


The Gift of the Goddess

by Alesseya



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hearing Voices, M/M, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-02-07 05:59:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 44,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12834783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alesseya/pseuds/Alesseya
Summary: It was the gift of the goddess. A reward for those who had given everything to save the planet. But honestly, it felt more like a punishment. Who came up with the idea that it was a reward to experience everything again? Well, they had no choice but to work with it. And with the fact that they were nothing else than children for the world they wanted to save.





	1. Last Countdown

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first Final Fantasy Fanfic and my first story in English. I am not a native speaker and I did not have a beta so small mistakes can happen. If something big is wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. I'm trying to follow the timeline, but I've added some differences after 'Dirge of Cerberus'. And played a bit with the families of Cloud and Rufus. The current tags are not complete. Relationship Tags and additional Tags will be added when needed.

**Last Countdown**

 

“Is it over?“ there was a hopeful note in his voice. Overlapped from pain. The left side of his white suit was red from the blood he loses. His face was pale. He would not reach the exit. Not in time.

“No, it’s not. First, we must turn the system off. It’s the last one.” His blue eyes were looking at the monitor in front of him. This building was larger than the last one. Well, it was the main building. They had expected it. What they had not expected was the strong defense system.

"We do not have to die both here, go get in touch with me when you've passed the exit, then I'll start the system off" a slight smile was on his face as he tried to get up.

"No, I will not" was the answer that kept him from doing so. The blue eyes now looked at him and his deadly wound. "I wish it had hit me. I wish I could give you a way out. It looks like it should not be.”

“What are you talking about?” panic was growing in him.

“A good friend told me once Shinra would be a cave full of monsters. Now I'm the last monster left. I had never planned to leave this place. I was hoping you would. Maybe it's fate that we both die here” sad eyes looked at him. From a face that has not aged in the last fifteen years. Somewhere deep inside, he'd known this day would come. He just hadn't expected it would be so soon.

“How long do we have left?” A deep sigh followed his question. He would drag the other back to the entrance if he hadn’t be wounded.

“We had ten minutes left after the system is shut down. Enough time to give Reeve a report” was the short reply.

“I'll give him the report. You start the shutdown. Does he know it?” the look in the blue eyes of his comrade was answer enough. Well, it wasn't the first time he had to give bad news. But this time there was also a good one.

 

\- - -

 

“Do you remember the first time we met?” it was hard to ignore the alarm and the mechanical voice that counted down the time until the explosion.

They both were sitting on the ground with their backs to the control console where the countdown was on display.

“You mean the day we break out of the cells in the labs just to find President Shinra impaled on his desk by Masamune?” There was a question in his answer. Like always. There was not much that he could remember from this time. And even today his memory often plays against him.

“Yeah. That day. When I first saw you, I had the feeling of knowing you. The feeling that I should know who you are. But I couldn't say why. I wonder what would have happened if I had followed this feeling” his voice show that this question was not new to him. He had often asked the past few years what influence it would have had on the events.

“I don't think that it would have changed something” was the reply he got. “You were a real bastard before Weapon and Meteor. Then there was too much between us. At that time, it was already too late. If we had met earlier, before Sephiroth run amok, maybe it would.”

“I should have killed the old bastard immediately after he made me the Vice-President” regret was in his voice and on his face. There were so many options how it could have been different. How they could have changed things. If fate was genuine and played that way with them, she was a nasty bitch.

“It’s over now. That is the only thing that matters.” Was Clouds answer. Sometimes Rufus envies the calm and clear behavior of the other. Sometimes it drove him insane.

“You’re an idiot.” A soft smile was on his face. “I wish we would have met sooner, little brother.”

Grey eyes met blue. Cloud was smiling too. The first smile in the last five years. The last smile in his life. “Me too. Big brother.”

At this moment, the countdown reached zero. The sound of an explosion sounded through the building. A few seconds later the two brothers were surrounded by fire.

 


	2. Welcome back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody. Thanks for the great response for the first, but rather short chapter. But do not get used to the fast updates. At the moment, I only have a lot of time to write because I recently submitted my bachelor thesis and am waiting for the evaluation.

**Welcome back**

 

A loud howling sounded through the night. An ordinary sound in this place. But not for the person that was now sitting in his bed. Not anymore. The eyes looked around. Try to see something in the dark. That was not possible. He should be dead. He remembered the flames on his face. The impact on his body from the explosion.

_“It's your reward.”_

Blue eyes stopped their search for an answer. Panic was standing in them. There was a Voice in his head, again. He thought he'd left that behind him.

_“I’m not her, silly. I will not control you. I'll give you a second chance. You earned it. Like your brother.”_

“Who...are you?” The sound of his own young and soft voice in the dark increased his panic.

_“I have many names. And many faces. It's up to you, as you want to call me. It doesn't matter for me.”_

Years of practice helped him to remain calm. A few deep breaths later he could speak again with the voice in his head. Well, this time the voice gave answers. That was new.

“What do you mean? I earned this. No, we earned this. Rufus and I.”

_“Your father and his greed have begun all of this decades ago. I've waited a long time. Presented him with his wife and child. But his greed for money and power had blinded him. It had turned him into a perfect puppet in the hands of a madman that called himself a professor. That had tried to play God._

_You should not have been born._ _It was time that, after all the good things I had done for your father, he learned what grief is. My plan failed. You were born. Modified from the same person that has already brought back the biggest threat to the planet. The only way to act against all this was to bring you away from your father. Your mother followed my plan._

_But you, my dear, always played against it. For a long time, I tried to destroy you. Put difficulties, pain, and grief in your path. But you surprised me. You've lived through all this. With the will to survive. And the will to protect others. I have given you my precious daughter; the last one that had remained to help you to heal. On the day my beloved daughter died, I lost the power to act. The power to help you and your friends. All that I could do was watch._

_Watch how you destroy the enemy and then had to deal with the consequences. Watch you while you found something like peace but only for short times. I apologize. For all that I've done to you._ The _day your brother found you, not as an enemy, ally or friend, but as a brother, I had hoped your quest would be over. But I was wrong. The dark shadows of the professor followed you and him._

_You both fought until the end. And you both were ready to die to reach the goal. To finally destroy the threat that your father has brought to the world. After your death, I was once again able to act. I collect all my power to send you and your brother back._ _You both said you were probably able to change things if you had met before the professor’s son lost his mind and tried to destroy the planet. I give you the chance to try it. I know it's not fair to ask you to do all this again. But I promise this time I'll help you. From the beginning.”_

Well, that's what he called an answer. More than he requested. And he did not understand half of it. It sounded like the voice was something like a goddess. And like it was her fault that his life had been so miserable. At least she had apologized to him. And now....

“What do you mean by 'all that again'? The laboratories, Deepground, the Remnants, Meteor, all that?” not even years of practice could help his voice stay calm this time. Not all this again.

_“Technically, yes. But listen._ _I had sent your brother and you as far back in time as I could. You two have four years until the professor's son will lose his mind. You can stop everything at the beginning. Because you had not been part of my plan, I had feared and damned you from the beginning. I did the same with the son of the professor and his friends. But you have shown me that it is possible to change my plans. You've shown me that no matter where you come from, you can have a place in this world. And the right to live in it."_

That was just great. The Goddess had sent him back to hell. And not only he. Rufus’ had been sent back too. Thousands of miles away in Midgar.

“And what do you think two teenagers can do?” was his reply. He was really surprised that he hadn't started to yell yet. But every time the voice spoke to him, he felt a little calmer than before. He hated it. But at the same time, he was grateful for that.

_“Your brother has already begun to act. He sends you someone to bring you back to him. At least he hopes to get you back. I cannot talk to him like you. His mind is not as connected to me as yours. You must know that there was an accident when I sent you back. Your brother was safe then. Surrounded by friends who helped him immediately. You were alone high up in the mountains. I protected you from the fiends. But I could not protect you from the cold outside. You were unconscious for the last two days.”_

He had been unconscious during the last two days. It was speaking for itself, that his mother was not here by his side. He remembered a time when Denzel had been ill. The one time he had tried to get Tifa away from Denzel's bed, she had threatened to beat him senseless. She had stayed there the whole time until Denzel was feeling better.

Cloud did not know if his mother was always like this or if the goddess had done something to lure her away from him.

_“It’s not my fault. Your mother had decided to let you lay here alone on her own. She had lost her mind in the process of your creation. Since then she had lived in her mind. On some days she recognizes you. But most of the time you have to take care of yourself. That’s how it is and always had been.”_

Great. Mental instability was the family. He had to tell Rufus this.

“Rufus has sent someone to get me?”

_“Yes, he had. Your brother has sent someone to whom you both would entrust your life. His name is Tseng. I had seen him a couple of times. He was loyal until the end.”_

Tseng was coming. That was good. No one dared to go against a Turk. He would not only destroy you but drive you to the point where you shot yourself with great pleasure.

“I can just...play along” Cloud realizes. He was here. And he would be damned if he did not take the chance to avoid the destruction and chaos that would soon come. He would do anything to make it better. And the voice knows that. It doesn't surprise him that the voice doesn't answer this time.

 


	3. Back to Midgar

**Back to Midgar**

 

He opened the door with mixed feelings. The sound of a helicopter landing was familiar to him. He had a good guess where Tseng had landed. And a good guess how long it would take him to come to his house. The last twenty minutes he has tried to get his mother to listen. He should hate her. For all that she'd done. But he couldn’t. Not after meeting her. Like the goddess had said, her mind was not here. She lived in another world, far away from reality. In this reality, she had her perfect little family. There she had a loving husband and her perfect little son. It was a hard blow for Cloud when he realized that he was not the son in this reality.

Now he understood how a fourteen-year-old boy could get permission to join the SOLDIER program. Cloud had been the youngest applicant for the program ever. If the last three hours had been normal, he fully understood why he had wanted to join SOLDIER so badly. Shinra was very proud of his SOLDIERS. And very protective of them. Joining SOLDIER meant to leave your past life behind you and never look back.

Chocolate brown eyes looked at him. He recognized Tseng without problems. But at that moment he realized; Tseng would not recognize him. They had not met yet.

"Hello, you are Tseng?" It was a lame question. He already knows the answer. A second later he cursed himself. Tseng looked surprised.

"Yes, and you are?" A small smile lay on Tseng's face. But his eyes were calculating. He wondered how this little boy from this remote village knew his name.

"I'm Cloud, you're here for me," this statement surprised Tseng even more. Was he looking for this young boy? Rufus had only told him to go to Nibelheim and pick up someone called Cloud. A strange name. And it looked as if the person carrying him was as strange as his name.

“You'll take him away? Good. It's for the best. His mother will come to rest if he is gone. And the remainder of the town too” came a harsh voice from Tseng's back. The hard eyes of the one who spoke lay on Cloud. Disgust on his face. At that moment, Cloud wondered why he was so disturbed by the burning of Nibelheim. From his current point of view, they could burn in hell, and he would not mind.

_“You hadn’t known another way of life. The townspeople had always blame you for her bad condition. They had always blamed you for the things that had gone wrong.”_

Ah, the voice of the goddess was back. He should give her a name. It would be easier to imagine her as a real person. Well, as real as a disembodied voice could be.

He could see Tseng's eyes darken with rage. He was an honorable man. As honorable as you could stay in Shinra. And children were always his weak point. That was the only reason he protected Aerith for so long. She was a child.

"Please let's just go," they could burn in hell from his point of view. But if Tseng kills them now, he'll be in trouble. It was not worth the paperwork.

“You have your things? We won't come back” the Turk asked quietly. Without a hint of the rage that raved in him.

“There is nothing I would want to take with me” was his short reply. At that moment, he was glad that he could not remember the time before Zack and he had broken out of the lab. The only thing he wanted to take with him was in the Shinra Manson. And Vincent would not mind him letting him sleep a little longer.

 

\- - -

 

Cloud could not remember the last time a flight had lasted so long. Maybe while they hunted Sephiroth and Meteor was burning in the sky. Nothing felt right back then. It was always like they were late. Or come just in time to see the hell brake loose. They could only react, never strike first.

The hunt for the labs had been different. Nobody had had a real sense of time left. It all seemed endless and in a rush. Like a long race on a Chocobo, while the finish line never came. Sometimes seconds seemed endless. At other times, hours had felt like a few minutes, while the gunfire and the cries of the dying people were all you could hear.

"Where had you met Rufus?" Tseng's voice dragged him out of his memories. It looked as if the Turk had calmed down enough to ask him some questions.

"We’ve never met, but I've known him all my life." Cloud's eyes focused on the land below them. Green hills. A living planet. It had been everything, they had dreamed of, and nothing anyone of them had dared to hope.

In some sense it was true. The life he remembered started in Midgar when he was twenty-one years old. And shortly after that, he met Rufus the first time.

The look in Tseng's eyes was not what he had expected. But good, he knows Aerith. She also looks a little crazy. Maybe Tseng was just used to it.

_“She is not crazy. She just doesn’t know how to listen.”_

Ah, the voice of the goddess was back. And no, he would not wonder why the voice knew what he was thinking. He hoped that she would just shut up if the timing would be bad. Or embarrassing. Or both. He needed a whiskey.

_“You will learn how to block me. Now you are sending all your thoughts to me. It is funny. And a little depressing.”_

Well, there was a silver strip on the horizon. Cloud was grateful for everything, even if it was something small like that.

“How old are you?” Tseng asked to let the time pass faster. Or he was just curious. The problem was only; He did not know. It depends on which day was today. The voice had said four years before the incident in Nibelheim. But the incident was just over a month after his birthday. He could be eleven or twelve.

_“Does it help when I say: Happy Birthday belated to you? You had come back on the day of your birthday. I should have told you earlier."_

Cloud suppressed the question why he was alone in the mountains on his birthday. He preferred it to concentrate on Tseng. “I'm twelve.” Goodbye whiskey. At least for the next years.

“Rufus has only a few friends at his age. He had tried to befriend with Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal, but they are too close to let someone else in their group.” A small smile lay on Tseng's face.

The Turk accepted too much without asking questions. That was probably the reason why he had come this far in Shinra. Or he had a mental list with all his questions, looking for answers when no one was looking. Cloud thought it was the second guess, correct this time.

“Rufus and I are not friends” was Clouds reply. They weren't friends. They were more. But he did not know if Rufus wanted to tell anyone. And he would first speak with him. They both would decide which path they would go from now on. And if Tseng again would be a part of it.

 

\- - -

 

“Is that Dark Nation?!” Cloud only could stare. He remembered the dog. Rufus had been so proud of it. A dog trained for war. Capable of using some magic from Materia locked in his collar. It was a hard time for Rufus after Dark Nation died.

And now he was there. Not more than a puppy. Ears and paws too big for his body. He was really cute.

"Yes, it is. The dog was fathers compensation present for forgetting my birthday again.” There was a soft smile on his face as Rufus stroked his long-lost friend. “That reminds me; Belated Happy Birthday.”

“You’re the second one today” a small smile played on Clouds face. He was happy. Even if they were pulled back in time, Rufus remembered his birthday. That was worth more than every party.

“Really? Who else?” Rufus looked curiously at him. Perhaps Tifa. But why belated then?

"I do not know who she is, but she's been here since I woke up this morning. My luck brought me back when I was alone in the mountains, just woke up a few hours ago, and she was the first one who talked to me here. She was the one who sent us back." It was so easy with Rufus. He never thought he was crazy. Even if the things Cloud said sounded crazy. But Rufus never looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Cloud knew that sometimes even Tifa had looked at him like that. But she had always thought he was different. And she had always looked at him with merciful eyes.

This thought brought him back to reality. How did he know that? And from where was this picture? The image of a Tifa as a little girl, with sad eyes and a smile that said "Sorry" before she turned around and walked back to the other kids.

_"You are in the mind of your twelve-year-old self._ _Even if you do not remember the time you were young, the young mind you had now does."_

Great. The memories of a crappy adulthood and a fucked up childhood together.

"Did she say why?" There was curiosity on Rufus young face. It looked cute.

"As a reward and apology" was Cloud's dry response. He did not want to think about his childhood. Not now. After they had made their plans, he would have time for a nervous breakdown.

The look on Rufus' face was priceless. His eyes wide open, his mouth slightly open and an almost silent "reward" escaped him.

“Yes, a reward. Our reward is the chance, to make it better,” it was funny to look at Rufus. Cloud had never seen him out of control before. Perhaps he could see it now because Rufus was a junior.

"Mean bitch" looked like fate does exist. And Rufus hated it even more now than in his previous life. Or future life. Whatever.

“I think I call her 'Whiskey'” suggested Cloud. Rufus presence was good for him. He felt like he belonged somewhere when his big brother was near. A feeling he had missed most of his life.

“Why? That’s a real unoffending name. I can give you some suggestions if you like.”

“Because every time she said something to me, I wished I had a bottle whiskey nearby,” the smile was back on Clouds face while he watched his big brother. Rufus stared at him with wide eyes. Then he started to laugh. Long and loud. It was the sweetest sound Cloud has heard in a long time.


	4. Of fathers and brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If edited the previous four chapters and erase some grammarly mistakes. The content stays the same, some sentencens had just been changed.

**Of fathers and brothers**

 

"Did you truly think, we'll get through with this? I don't think he'll be that stupid." Rufus's eyed Cloud skeptical. After Rufus had calmed down, he had ordered something to eat. Cloud had been hungry.

He hadn't found himself in the kitchen this morning. And his mother had been no help. On the contrary, she had simply ignored him. A short time later, Tseng had appeared and had taken him with him. And the flight from Nibelheim to Midgar had, after all, also lasted five hours.

"I'm his lost son.The one whose birth he had wanted so much, that he had given Hojo a free hand in the treatment of his wife. When we play our cards right, I could stab him in the back and get praised for it." Was all Cloud had to say about it.

The plan was very simple. Rufus reputation with President Shinra would increase because he brought Cloud home and Cloud would play the perfect little soldier son. Cloud had never been someone who had flaunted his feelings openly.

The reason was probably that the behavior of the other kids had annoyed him. Well, at least until he had started to beat them up for it. He could play the perfect little soldier. It was best that way. Tseng had seen him. And even if the Turk did not say anything, he would wonder what had happened to the boy he had found in Nibelheim.

"He's a fat, cruel, hypercritical bastard, are you sure you can do it?"

"You do not know what's going on in the army, do you?" The look on Rufus' face showed Cloud that he had a point. The fog that surrounded his memory was fading away with each second that Cloud was here. He remembered not only his childhood but also his time in Shinra. His memories were clear until the mission with Zack and Sephiroth in Nibelheim. Only the years in Hojos captivity and the breakout from it was still blurred. But he had gotten answers to questions he never dared to ask. Well the only people who could have had answered him had been already dead.

“Believe me, big brother. There is nothing he can do to me, that other people hadn’t already done to him.” That was the simple and sad truth. His life was fucked up.

 

\- - -

 

"Father, I want to introduce you to someone" the young voice of Rufus sounded through the large and almost empty-looking office. The secretary had been nice to them. She had checked whether President Shinra was in a meeting or on the phone. After that, she let them in without asking any questions.

"I hope it is important. I have a lot of work" was the only answer from President Shinra. His gray eyes never left the monitor as he spoke.

In short, Rufus and Cloud changed another look before they crossed the office. Right in front of the massive desk of the president they stopped.

"Father, this is Cloud. My little brother is back home "Rufus spoke in the gentle voice that he would soon lose. But even in this voice, unknown to Cloud, he could hear how glad Rufus truly was that he was here. It was a nice feeling.

Now president Shinra turned to them. Only a quick glance wandered to Rufus before his eyes fell on Cloud. His eyes were big, and he just stared at the boy. A little bitter smile lay on Cloud's face as he looked back. He just looked like a little copy of his mother. Another reason the other children had annoyed him. He would grow out of it. When he and President Shinra met for the first time, only his eyes and his hair color resembled those of his mother.

"You're Back" it was a faint whisper. Disbelieving and full of something like hope.

"Hello, Dad" was Cloud's answer. They didn't know the whole story. Only that Rufus and his mother, Sophia, had left her husband and little son, shortly after Clouds birth. And she had taken the newborn with her. President Shinra had immediately initiated a search for his wife and the baby. Without even wasting a thought on the two-year-old boy in his custody, who had just been left by his mother. Five years later, the search had stopped. Mother and child were declared dead.

And he would compensate Rufus for these five years. And for the following lonely years. He owed it to him.

 

\- - -

 

After the first meeting, the president had taken the two boys from his office to the research department. He wanted that Hojo to do a check-up on Cloud. The two boys had expected that. As whiskey had said; Cloud should not be born. There had been problems during pregnancy. Hojo had been the one person President Shinra had trusted the most. The scientist should try everything in his power, to make sure that the baby would be born. It had been a feast day for the crazy professor.

For Hojo, it had been like a dream come true. He had not only get the permission, but the instruction to experiment on the president's wife and her unborn child. And that, he had done. Not with Jenova cells. Sephiroth had already been born. Professor Hojo had closed the Jenova Project and had considered it a success.

This time he had used other cells. Saturated with Mako. They had never figured out which cells Hojo had used. And if Cloud was honest, he'd been grateful he would never know.

Rufus stayed by his side while Hojo worked as ordered. If his big brother had not been there, Cloud would not have known what he would have done. Maybe he would have tried stabbing the crazy scientist with his scalpel. Not a good first impression. Rufus had grounded him. Like he always did.

"It's really ... interesting" had been the first words that Hojo had not just mumbled to himself.

"What exactly is so interesting?" President Shinra demanded an answer. He had not left Cloud's side either. Like he was afraid his son would vanish again if he let him out of his sight.

"His results show the same values as the results of Sephiroth at that age, in some cases even higher," Hojo replied with a disbelieving tone in his voice. Cloud could not suppress a grin. That would be an advantage for them. "If I could explore the subject a little deeper ...”

Hojo was interrupted from a double shouted “NO!”. To Clouds big surprise, the second voice was not his own. He had been too shocked by the thought of being at the mercy of the professor again. It was the voice of President Shinra. "I do not care how you treat your son, Hojo, but mine will not be your guinea pig, you'll stay away from him or bear the consequences."

Only a fool would not hear the threat in this words. Hojo was a lot, but not a fool. He would stay away from Cloud. At least for the time being.

After Clouds examination, a meeting with the department heads followed. For this meeting, Cloud had put on an old suit of Rufus. His father promised that he would buy Cloud own clothes as soon as possible. After all, he had nothing with him, except the clothes he wore. Cloud wondered if he could decide what he wanted to wear or if President Shinra would simply buy what he thought fit. He would talk to Rufus about it later. At the moment Cloud was sitting in the conference room only once, a wistful smile on his face. He remembered the day they had broken in here and spied out of the ventilation shafts. At the moment, only a bald man was present whom Cloud did not know. Rufus had whispered to him that it was the current head of the weapons development department. He would be one of the first victims of AVALANCHE and Scarlet would take his place within the next four years. Well, that was something they had to prevent. Scarlet was as crazy as Hojo. The security system in the lab where they had died was from her. She had been part of the creation of the scourge that had haunted Gaia. Five years after Deepground. They did not know who else was involved in the creation of the laboratories. For a short while, Cloud had suspected that Hojo had helped. But why? He had created Deepground for President Shinra. And Sephiroth as the biggest weapon in Gaia.

They had found some information in one of the last laboratories. The laboratories had been built to destroy the Shinra Corporation. Nothing that Hojo would have ever done. The company supplied him with everything he needed to research. No matter whether it was money, employees or test subjects. And the company gave him security. No one dared to attack Hojo, no matter how terrible things were, which he had done.

Scarlet, on the other hand, had tried everything to get a bigger part of the cake. After the death of President Shinra, she had tried to achieve a higher position. Had dared to question Rufus position. The Turks had silenced her on this point. After that, she was a burden for the company. That was why she had created the weapon that would have kept Cloud and his friends from reaching Hojo. She had wanted to be the one who stopped them after the Turks failed. Had wanted to prove that Rufus still needed her. Heidegger was just a fool. Just a pawn in her game. Heidegger had been too self-centered to realize, that Scarlet had only used him to her advantage.

But she was not alone responsible for the labs. She had to have help. Scarlet was able to develop a weapon that could obliterate half of the planet with a single shot. But she was unable to create a biological weapon like the Scourge. One of the scientists from the research department had helped her. And Cloud felt that more than two people had been responsible for the labs. The Shinra company had had many enemies.

“I think, we can begin” the voice of president Shinra brought Cloud back from his thoughts. Clouds blue eyes were wandering around the table. He was surprised that Hojo was the only person he knew. He truly had to talk with Rufus.

"Did something happen in Wutai?" One of the department heads asked. He had light blond hair and pale gray eyes. Cloud could only stare. He had heard of Lazard. And he had seen him in some of Zack's old memories. But to see him live was different. And to be honest, he almost forgot him. Another part of the family he would never meet. And most likely another part of the family that would call him crazy.

A gentle touch on his leg broke Clouds stare. Cloud turned his head and was looking into the eyes of his brother who had initialized the touch. Rufus smiled sadly at him and mouthed the word “Later.”. With a small nod, Cloud replied before turning his head back to look at the other people in the room.

It seemed he had already missed much of the conversation. Most of the department heads' eyes focused on him.

"Are you sure he is, who he pretends to be?" Asked a deep voice. Cloud looked at the man who had spoken. Cloud knew the name of this man. But he had never seen his face before. Rufus had told him about Veld who was the current leader of the Turks. And he had told Could about Velds daughter Elfe, who had been the founder of AVALANCHE and another victim of Hojo.

“I have checked it. The boy truly is the son of the president and his vanished wife. The only questions left are how and where Rufus had found him.” Hojos cold eyes were laying on Cloud. Hojo was interested in him. That was crystal clear.

Most gazes in the room were now on Rufus. He and Cloud had talked about it. About what they wanted to say. And about what they would stay silent. The story had to be believable.

“Father you remember the photos you ordered a few weeks ago for the 25th anniversary?” Rufus asked.

The president thought for a moment before answering. "The photos of Nibelheim, were the first reactor was made? I have instructed the PR department which to prepare for the festivities next year."

“These photos I mean. You had told me about the campaign. I was curious and wanted to see the town in which the first Mako Reactor had been build. I’ve asked the PR department if I could have the pictures. In one of them, I saw a woman who looked like my mother on the wedding picture in our living room. Together with a child.

I remembered that you told me that she was gone with my little brother and was declared dead because no one had found her. I thought maybe they were not dead. That maybe there was a chance that this was really my mother and little brother.

I took the photo. To look deeper into the matter. I did not want anyone to know it until I was sure. In the last weeks, I looked at some old files from Nibelheim and the search twelve years ago. My mother's grandmother was from Nibelheim, and there was a house still registered under her name. So, I thought it would be worth trying to contact her. And Cloud answered. When I was sure, that he truly was my little brother, I’ve asked Tseng to bring him home."

It was a good story. And almost the truth. Rufus had found the photo previously. And he had taken it away. But do not try to find him. He had destroyed it. He could not say why he had done that. Cloud suspected that it was one of the things the goddess had involved in with her hand. She had finally wanted to see him dead. Not happy and united with his family.

"That was a good decision and quick thinking." There was a brief smile on the President's face. His eyes lay proudly on Rufus. It was all Rufus had ever wanted. To get recognition from his dad for the things he did well. Now that he did not want it anymore, he got it.

“What’s with Mrs. Sophia? Is she back too?” Veld asked. For him it was important. The safety of the Shinra Family was part of his job. The boy would get a shadow within the next few hours to make sure he was safe. If the president's wife was back too, Veld has to make sure she would get a guard.

"No. Mother ... preferred to stay in Nibelheim." It was the first time Cloud spoke. He remembered the days when she was clear enough to see him. And to recognize him as her son. He remembered the conversations they had had. The few moments in his life when he felt like part of something. And he remembered how much she loved the little town as if she had one of those few good days.

“I don’t think we need someone to watch her there. She had been safe there for the last twelve years. She will be safe there in the future.” The president responded. There had been a time when he had loved this woman. But that was a long time ago before she had stolen his child. “Veld, I want you to find a teacher for Cloud. He had a lot of catching up to do. Terrance, make sure he gets an ID card for the building. All of you make sure that no one bothered him. Rufus, please lead him around a bit, would you?”

It was not a request it was an order. The president wanted to talk to the department heads without the children being present.

"Of course, father," Rufus said before leaving the conference room. Cloud followed him.

 


	5. How to become a SOLDIER

**How to become a SOLDIER**

 

“You know that we could spy on them?” Cloud asked after the soundproof doors had closed behind them.

"We ... how?" Rufus confused tone showed Cloud that he had no idea how easy it was to spy on the conference room.

"You can climb into the ventilation shafts through a hatch in the lavatories. You can get straight to a ventilation grill above the conference room if you follow the shaft." A little smile was on Cloud's face as he answered him.

"And I thought I knew this place." Rufus snorted.

"I think I have a few surprises left for you," smiled Cloud. Zack's memories were full of shortcuts and hidden places. "Shall we?"

“I think we should talk to Lazard later, I never really tried to talk to him then, but he is the director of SOLDIER, so if you want to get involved, it would be good to know him and get along with him. Rufus had led them to the elevators during the conversation. "Do you still want to become SOLDIER?"

"Yes, I want to join in. The concept of SOLDIER is good, the monsters in Gaia are getting stronger and stronger, we need people to stop them, and we both need people who are strong enough to help us with the coming dangers" Cloud replied.

He knew that it was not the full truth. He wanted to join. He wanted to prove he could do it. He knew the last time he had failed because of his social and psychological problems. He had never learned to trust somebody. Teamwork had been a stranger to him because he had never been part of a team. Now he knew it. He had led a team of civilians into a war against Shinra. And he had won. And after defeating the Remnants, he helped Reeve and the WRO. Until the day Rufus called him with important information. That had been the day Rufus had told him they were brothers. Cloud had not believed him. The thought that his father was somehow involved in the events that had turned his life into a living hell was just too much. Cloud had demanded the truth. Rufus had given it to him.

The test had been easy. Carried out by the doctor in Mideel, who had helped him after he had fallen into the lifestream. After the positive result, Cloud had gone to the lake where he had Aerith buried. He had hoped she would talk to him. Like before the Remnants. But Aerith had still been silent. One-day Vincent appeared, and they talked. The ex-Turk had been the only person in Gaia who understood how Cloud felt. The only person who never tried to cheer him up. Often, they sat together by the lake. Each one absorbed in his dark thoughts about lost opportunities.

After a long time, he had talked to Rufus. They had met and talked a lot about the past. They had gotten along well. Then the scourge had broken out. Together they had tried to find a cure. Had tried to stop the scourge from overrunning the whole planet.

"I agree that we need something like SOLDIER, but I don’t agree with the concept of their creation," Rufus replied, pulling Cloud out of his thoughts about the past. They had to be careful about what they said here on the floors. Security standards were lower than after Genesis desertion and the AVALANCHE attacks. But they were still there. To make sure no one would betray them.

"We will find a way," Cloud replied. He agreed with Rufus. Genetic modifications with cells of an unknown origin were not the way to build an elite group. They had to find another way. But right now, it would be suspicious if they showed how much they knew about the research department's secret experiments.

"Normally, General Sephiroth would have attended this meeting, but right now he's in Wutai, along with Heidegger, the head of the ordinary military. Director Lazard of the SOLDIER department is currently the only military commander in the company. He has, temporarily, command of the normal military stationed here and the remaining SOLDIER. The new cadets started their lesson two months ago. You must know; the Turks are watching all new cadets. Not just during lessons and training. Also in her spare time. You can apply for a place in one of the organizations. But in the end, the information gained from these observations will have a greater impact on the outcome than their test results. The only source of more weight is the medical exam," Rufus explained as he left the elevator.

"What… why?" Cloud was speechless.

"A SOLDIER need to be able to fight, be courageous and loyal. If he is clever this is a bonus, but not a condition, Turks need to be secretive and quiet, they have to be cold-blooded when needed. These two organizations needed special people with special traits of character. And these features were looked for in the observation. All cadets that do not have any of these characteristics will receive an offer for another department within the company after the final exam. Depending on their abilities. If a cadet had already some of the qualities we are looking for, he gets an offer for the infantry. He will be under observation for the next five years from then on. Most cadets are very young, so it's still possible their character will change over the next years. There is the possibility that the missing features will break through over time. These are the people who get promotions to SOLDIER or the Turks. These people often were selected to work with SOLDIERS on missions. It depends on the class of the SOLDIER how close the promotion is. Only people who are close to being promoted get assignments with a SOLDIER First Class.”

"You mean..." Cloud didn't finish the sentence. He had often wondered why he had had assignments with members of SOLDIER. He had been infantrymen with only a few months of field experience after all. In his squad where dozens of people with more experience than he that hadn't had even one mission with a SOLDIER third class. And he had had regular missions with SOLDIERS of the third and second class after a few weeks in the army. And then there were the missions he had had with Zack. Zack had been the only SOLDIER First Class, with whom Cloud had been on missions. Shortly after that, his comrades had started to treat him different. He hadn't understood why.

"First they were sent with SOLDIER Third or Second Class. If they show the needed traits on this assignment, they get a mission with a SOLDIER First Class. The Turks will observe the soldier in this mission in particular. Mostly it's an important mission with great difficulties. If the soldier did good in this mission, he gets assigned to another mission with the same SOLDIER First Class. Even more difficult and mostly top secret. If the soldier succeeded in this mission too, he got a third and last mission with the SOLDIER First Class. After that, the soldier gets a promotion to SOLDIER Third Class. Mostly with a member of the First Class as a mentor." Rufus explained further. He understood that it was difficult for Cloud to hear this. That was the reason he hadn't told him sooner. The Nibelheim-Mission was his third mission with Zack, who was a SOLDIER First Class. After this mission, he would have become a SOLDIER Third Class. If Sephiroth hadn't run amok in the little village, Clouds dream would have become true.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's really short but i wanted to show, that Hojos experiments with Cloud had nothing to do with his ability to defeat Sephiroth. It had made things easier for Cloud but the strength had come from himself.
> 
> My explanation showed why Cloud had had missions with Zack. I mean, Cloud had left Nibelheim in the beginning of 2000 (at least the timeline I used say that). It would have take him a few weeks to reach Midgar. The try-outs for SOLDIER needed some time too. And after he had joind the infantary he would have had some training too. But he was send to an importand mission with a Turk (the protection of Dr. Rayleigh against AVALANCHE) in June 2001. He could not have been more than a few month in the regular army at this point of time. Why sending a rookie to such an important mission? And only a few month later Cloud joined Zack on the mission in Medeoheim to capture Dr. Hollander who was suspected to help Genesis. 
> 
> There had to be a reason for this behaviour and I just tried to find a good explanation. I hope I found a logical one.


	6. Among brothers

**Among brothers**

 

Rufus had led them to Lazard's office. Cloud was quiet after Rufus told him how close he had been to make his dream come true in his last life. It had given him more questions than answers. Hojo had genetically modified Cloud before he was born. Long before the Nibelheim mission. Which of his talents in swords, Materia, and leadership had been his? What had he gained from the five years in Hojos care?

He had never really thought about it before. Cloud had believed that he had received all the things he had needed to become the savior of the world during his time in the laboratory in Nibelheim. Today, Rufus told him he had been merely one stride out to arrive at his dream and joining SOLDIER. Without the interference of anybody. This thought should be a calming one. It meant that he could do it again. That they truly received a chance at winning. Without the interference of Hojo.

Cloud would rather die than let the crazy scientist experiment with his body again. Only he had feared that he would not be enough. He had feared that the only reason why he had been able to fight Sephiroth, the Remnants, Deepground and the Scourge in the previous timeline had been the experiment Hojo had performed on him.

He knew that Zacks talents had helped him. Since the other boy had given his life for him, Cloud had fought with Zacks style. He had converted it. Had extended it after Meteor to be able to wield two swords at the same time. Only the basic style he fought with was Zacks and always would be. Cloud hoped it would not lead to problems. Zack had taken in his style from Angeal Hewley. One of the generals that were in Wutai at the moment. He would need to make sure the other man would train with him when he was back in Midgar.

The sound of footsteps brought Cloud back from his thoughts. He genuinely had to talk with Rufus about all of this. The few hours they had had before Cloud had met his father had not been nearly enough time to talk about everything. They had only passed over the fundamentals. Discussed the first steps they would go. They needed to talk about the finer details.

The footsteps had stopped. Short after that, the voice of Cloud's second brother could be picked up. “Hello. I must say, I haven’t expected to meet you two in front of my office.”

“Cloud wanted to meet you. And I think, I had to apologize to you. For being such a snob the past year.” Even for Cloud Rufus answer was unexpected. A short look at the face of his big brother showed Cloud that his brother was serious about it.

“Then I think we should talk in my office.” A distant smile was on Lazard’s face. His eyes indicated that he didn’t believe Rufus.

“That would be great.” Cloud smiled at the young man while he said that. Lazard turned to him and smiled back. Cloud was relieved that this smile was honest. It looked like Cloud had a better standing with Lazard than Rufus had.

 

Shortly after that, the three brothers were sitting in Lazard’s office. Cloud was glad when he had seen the visitor chairs in the office. They were the same height and the same type as Lazard’s chair on the other side of the desk. Reeve had told him once, that a lot of department heads had truly uncomfortable chairs for visitors that were slightly lower. In this style, the owner of the office always seemed bigger than the visitor. It looked like Lazard wanted to talk with his visitor's eye to eye.

“I must say, the events of the day had affected me,” with this word Lazard broke the silence in the bureau. The distant smile was back on his lips.

“Because you thought I would do everything in my power to prevent Clouds return and instead of this I had fetched him home?” There was a sad smile on Rufus' lips as he articulated that. It had been exactly that thing that he had done in the previous timeline.

“Yes, that’s what I would have imagined you would do. You haven’t seemed very fond of the idea to have siblings. I’m pretty sure Tseng had told you who I'm. He is too close to you to keep his mouth shut. A trait of him that had prevented his promotion to the department head. Father didn’t trust Veld anymore. I don’t know why. But he had kept his department head because he didn’t want someone in this position so loyal to you. He feared you.” Lazard's voice stayed calm and firm. In some way, he remembered Cloud of Vincent. But a little lesser depressing.

“He did not fear me. He feared that I could gain more power within these walls that he already had. He desires to use Cloud to prevent this. That’s why he wanted us to leave the conference, is it not?” The smile on Rufus' face showed Cloud that his big brother was in the middle of one of the little mind games the older loved to play. Usually it was Reeve on the other side. And usually these games but ended when Tifa promised a hurtful end of the day if they don’t shut up already.

“Perhaps. Tell me, why had you brought Cloud back to Midgar? In my view, it would have been better for him to remain away from Midgar. The spies of Wutai surely already told Lord Godo about him. You could have waited a few years until you tell father about him.” Oh crap. Lazard played with Rufus too.

“I’m positive that Cloud is able defending himself against that menace. And he is here because I need him.” The fond smile on Rufus' face showed Cloud that this was not the only reason.

The distant smile on his face faded away. “Why are you so sure about it? Cloud is only how old? Twelve?”

“To use the words a friend of a friend had used a long time ago,” Cloud began to speak, an ironic smile on his face. “Because I’m a monster.”

That statement had shocked Lazard. He was not an idiot. And he knew Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal. And he knew their history.

“We need your aid, big brother.” There was a predator's smile on Rufus lips that would make every Nibel Wolf proud. Lazard's gray eyes were looking at Rufus and Cloud. You could see the battle he fought in his mind. A last glance at Cloud ended it.

“How can I help you?”

 

\- - -

 

“Anywhere else you wanted to go?” Rufus looked at Cloud a little uncertain. He knew that Cloud would find the ways he wanted to use. He had visited this building as a cadet, soldier, and terrorist after all. And he held the memories of Zack, who had known this building better than the persons who had established it. But it would look suspicious if he didn’t show him around. Officially it was the first time Cloud had set a foot into this construction.

“You can show me the airport and the office of the Turks. After that, you can show me the SOLDIER floor. We’ve already told Lazard that I wanted to join them. You can show me the training rooms and classrooms of the cadets too. I think after that it’s time for us to go home. You can show me the garage. Then we asked someone to bring us back to the villa.” In this way, they would work their way from the top of the building at the bottom of it.

“It sounded like a good plan. But we should eat something in one of the canteens. Your stomach is like a black hole, and there isn't anything eatable left back home.” Rufus answered with a small smile on his face. “I’ve never eaten in the canteen of the cadets before.”

“You do not want to eat there, trust me.” Was Clouds dry reply. The canteen of the SOLDIER was good. The canteen of the army was okay. But the canteen of the cadets was a tragedy. They had often made a bet which cadet would vomit first. There were always some boys and girls from rich families. Mostly one of these cadets throws up during a meal. The only question was if you could eat enough before that happened or if you had to stay hungry for the next meal. You did not want to eat something if you had seen someone decorated the table with it.

"Have you ever eaten in the canteen of the Turks?" Asked Rufus.

No, Cloud did not. Zack had been good friends with a few Turks, but he had never eaten in their canteen. So, he had never been able to smuggle anything out of the canteen for Cloud.

"Then we will eat there," Rufus answered Cloud's silent head shake. “But first I show you the SOLDIER corridor and the training rooms of the cadets. We can go to the garage after eating and take one of the cars to get home. I guess father will introduce you to your new teacher tomorrow. We have to incorporate the lessons into your training schedule. And we need to think about how you can shake off the Turks who will be watching you."

“The Turk will be no trouble. Vincent showed me a lot of stuff. I’ve always known when one of the Turks were near me. That’s why Reno always ended in a dead end when he tried to follow me” a small smile was on Cloud's face while he remembered the red-haired man. After he and Rufus had talked, Cloud had given his brother a second chance. And the Turks as well. They had been too close to Rufus to leave them out of it. He had gotten along with Reno quite good after a short time. Cloud had often thought that Reno and Zack had got along well. Unfortunately, they had never met. Reno was one of the cadets that started with Cloud. After graduation, he joined the Turks. For Turks then only the real training began, which lasted three years. At the time, Zack and Cloud have been already in Hojos captivity.

"He was truly frustrated about that. He liked you. And I mean not in a platonic way. You've never expressed any interest in Tifa. He thought perhaps he would have a chance." Rufus was watching Cloud out of the corner of his eyes. It was a topic they had never talked about. But even Rufus had seen that Cloud was totally blind to the offers the women and some men living in Edge had made him.

A slight blush was on Cloud's face. But that was the only reaction Rufus gets. Considerably, for Cloud it was an unusual response. Cloud never blushed. You almost never see any emotions on the other boy's face. The only persons Rufus knows that had gotten a few of Clouds smiles had been the children in Edge. Well and Aerith. But that girl always was a special case. And Cloud honored the memories of Aerith and Zack too much to act on any feeling for the girl. For Cloud, she was Zacks. And always would be.

But Cloud was different here. He smiled more often. And he was more relaxed. Certainly, a bunch of his smiles were to manipulate the adults around him. And it went well. But the smiles he shared with Rufus were honest. Rufus did not know why Cloud was so different. But he desired it would continue this way.

“There had never been anyone I was interested in that way. I mean, I had held a crush on Tifa when we were younger, but that was because she had been what I had wanted to be. She had parents who obviously loved her. Friends that have been always by her side. She had been like the sunshine to me. And I wanted a part of that light for myself. I had liked Aerith too. But with her, I had always had the feeling that I had to protect her from the world.” Cloud whispered. His voice almost too low for Rufus to hear it.

“You’ve never been in love with someone?” Rufus asked a little surprised. The woman he had loved died through the attack of Weapon. She and her unborn child. After that, Rufus had sworn to eliminate all dangers in the world. So, he would never experience something like that again.

The blush on Clouds cheeks darkened a little. "I'm not sure."

Rufus felt sad for his little brother. But at least Cloud hadn’t denied the possibility. And there was a high chance Cloud truly doesn’t know. He had lost five years of his life after all. And before that, he had operated like a madman to make his goal and become a SOLDIER. Who could say what harm Hojo’s experiments had done to Cloud?

"The next time you're not sure, talk to me, okay?" Rufus said. It was not good to live in the past. They would meet people they had known in the past under new conditions. That would alter a great deal. But they could look to the future.

"Really?" Asked Cloud. The whole topic was embarrassing for him. But if he could not let the cat out of the bag to his big brother, with who else?

"Certainly. That's what big brothers are for." A large grin was on Rufus' face as he articulated this.

 


	7. First night at home

**First night at home**

 

To Clouds surprise the tour had been interesting. The building was the same as the one he knew, but the equipment had changed a lot in the few years between now and Clouds time in the military. The war against Wutai had caused a big boom in creating high-tech equipment. Most SOLDIER First Class and Second Class were in Wutai at the moment. To make certain the new SOLDIER Third Class gets a proper training the IT Department had prepared a virtual reality room. The normal army had gained some VR-Applications too. For Cloud, this equipment had been normal. But this was the time when the technology boom had started. It would even increase in the next years.

At the moment the doors to the departments with higher security level were guarded by some foot soldiers. In two years they would be replaced with automatic doors and digital ID-Badges. The technology inventions the Shinra company had done were really amazing. It was a pity the public would never recognize it. For them, Shinra would always be a power supply with military power.

Cloud had also seen some people amongst the cadets that he remembered. Not only from his time in the military, but also from the time after that. There were people he knew from his travels around the world.

Some of them would become a shop owner. Or so would start a family away from Midgar. And against some of them, he had fought.

One special cadet had given him the creep. He had been one of Hojo’s assistants in the laboratory in Nibelheim. Cloud had only blurred memories of the man, but to see his face again had made them a little bit clearer. Rufus had seen the light panic in Cloud's eyes. The look on his face after that had promised Cloud that he would never see that boy again. Fortunately, that had been the only downside of the tour.

It was about six in the evening when they entered the Turks canteen. The Turk and SOLDIER offices were never empty. And some of the persons working there seemed to live in the building. That’s why the canteens had opened from 6 am to 8 pm. The employees could buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a low price. Cloud remembered that he and the other infantrymen had always eaten there. It was cheaper than cooking at home. The apartments Shinra provided the employees with were the same. The buildings around the company headquarter were full of apartments. The one nearest the headquarters were for SOLDIER, Turks and the normal military.

But that had not been all. Employees of the Shinra company had gotten a discount in every shop on the plate. It had been not only prestige working for Shinra had brought to the masses, but a bunch of other benefits as well. But only on the plate.

In the slums employees of Shinra had been looked at with suspicious eyes. The only exception to that rule were Turks, SOLDIER, and infantrymen. They improved the income in the markets and bars in the slums and the safety there. And if you knew where to expect you could find real gems. In the slums in sector three lives the goldsmith that had crafted Clouds wolf accessories. And the Materia shop in sector seven sold natural grown Materia. Most people didn’t recognize that there was a different kind of Materia. But the feeling of natural grown Materia was different than the feeling of manufactured Materia. Cloud had cast with both. And he preferred the natural grown Materia. Just a few shops in Gaia sold them. Generally they were not on the well-traveled roads too. But Cloud was sure that he would get his Materia collection back. Full of natural grown Materia. He knew where to look for them, after all.

“A gil for your thoughts,” Rufus brought Cloud back to reality. They were already seated in the canteen with a good smelling plate with food in front of them. Cloud did not know what Rufus had ordered him, but the other boy knew his taste.

“I want to buy some Materia in the slums when I had enough money for it,” was Cloud’s answer, while he began eating.

“Why from the slums?” Rufus looked a little confused.

“They had naturally grown Materia. The behavior and feeling of natural grown Materia and manufactured Materia are different. And I prefer the natural grown Materia.” Cloud explained.

“I can bring you some from my next visit to the slums if you want. The slums are not a place someone from the Shinra family is safe.” Cloud would be shocked by Tseng’s sudden appearance if he hadn’t sensed him a short time ago. Like Rufus was. He had knocked up his glass when Tseng had spoken and was now cursing about the mess he had made of his suit.

“That would be great, but I can’t give you the money for it yet. And I don’t know which Materia they had in store.” Cloud smiled at Tseng, while the Turk was sitting down next to him. A tray with food in his hands.

“I don’t think money will be a problem,” a faint smile was on Tseng's face. Cloud only sees it, because he knew the faint smiles the man sometimes share with others. “But I’m curious. You can use Materia already?”

Tseng was fishing for information, that was clear to Cloud and Rufus. But that was one thing they had expected. Tseng was the only one in the whole company who knew Rufus good enough to see the difference in his behavior. And he was smart enough to connect the changes in Rufus and the appearance of Cloud in the picture. It was their luck that Tseng would observe first and decide then what to do with the information.

“Sure. I had had a natural grown fire Materia when I was younger,” Cloud answered a wistful smile on his face. He had found a fire Materia in a cave in mount Nibel. It had been his biggest treasure. That was until mayor Lockhart had taken it from him. He had used it to pay the bill for Tifa’s treatment. Nobody believes Cloud that the accident wasn’t his fault.

“Is fire Materia not a little uncommon to grow in a cold place like mount Nibel naturally?” Tseng was asking interested.

“Not really. A lot of dragons live there. If the Materia grows near a dragon nest, it’s possible that it will be a fire Materia.” Cloud answered. Materia where a topic Cloud knew a lot. He had learned this thing from Yuffie and the people in Cosmo Canyon.

“You know a lot of Materia,” Tseng said with a small smile on his lips. It was nothing too special what Cloud had said. But it was unusual for a boy in his age to know so much about such a special subject.

“I can handle a revolver quite good too. If you had to provide for yourself, you learn things like that quick.” Was Clouds dry reply. He had needed to defend himself from a young age. The Materia he had found and the old revolver he had taken away at home had helped. Not against the townspeople, but mostly against the monsters in the mountains.

“But your mother…” Tseng was interrupted by Cloud before he could finish this sentence. Cloud was glad, that Rufus, Tseng and he was the only people in the canteen.

“My mother was a poor excuse for what a mother really should be. I can count the times on one hand when she did more to me than treat me like air. I don’t know how she had been before I was born, but that’s how she is now. If you excuse me, I’m a little tired. It had been a long day,” saying this Cloud stands up. The good mood he had had all day had vanished. It wasn’t Tsengs fault. But he remembered how his mother had treated him. And he remembered how Tifa had treated Denzel and Marlene. It hurts to think about the woman that had given birth to him. When Cloud traversed the door to leave the canteen, he heard a faint _“I’m sorry”_ in his head.

 

_ - - - _

 

Rufus stayed silent while they were driving home. Cloud was sure that the other boy would want to talk about the things he had said to Tseng. He was just grateful that it would be later and not now.

President Shinra was not at home when they arrived. Rufus had told Cloud that their father often sleeps in his office. Normally Tseng would show up later. The Turk acted like a father, even if he was only ten years older than Rufus. But today the Turk had the night shift.

It was good that way. They could plan how to work from now on. Without being overheard.

Maddy, the housekeeper, had greeted them when they arrived. She was in the house in the daytime. Her shift ended at seven o'clock. You could see from the look on her face that she was not happy that she had to work longer today. In few words, she showed Cloud the room that would be his and told him that the clothes president Shinra had ordered, had arrived. Shortly after that, she left the house.

Cloud felt sorry for Rufus. He hadn’t thought about the childhood of his brother. But somewhere deep inside he had believed it had been a good one. That had been one of the reasons why Cloud had been distant at the beginning of their relationship. But now he could see that their childhood was not that different. At least in regard of their parents.

Sometimes Cloud had wondered about the distant behavior Rufus had had in regard of the death of his father. Now he understands. For Rufus, this man hadn’t been a father. Just like Sophia Strife hadn’t been a mother to Cloud. The only difference between the two brothers was that Cloud had shed tears over the death of his mother. Rufus on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less about the death of his father.

The two boys had gone to the living room. It had happened a lot today. And they had to talk about it now when they were alone.

“What had happened to the department heads that I’ve seen today? And why was Reeve not there?” Cloud knew that Reeve was already department head of urban development.

“That had been poor timing. Reeve was in sector two. A new market had opened there today. It’s one of his duties to attend these events in representation of the company. And the other department heads, well, let’s just say that AVALANCHE, the Wutai rebels and the desertion of Genesis had not been very good for these persons. Father had replaced most of them with people he could blackmail.” Rufus answered while putting down two sodas on the table.

“We will have a few years until that happens,” Cloud said with a sigh. “If we’re lucky we could prevent Genesis desertion. He had taken a lot of good SOLDIERS with him. It would be a shame to lose them again.”

“It’s a shame your friends are not here. Your network would help us a lot in regard of these things.” Rufus answered while taking his drink.

“What do you mean?” A curious look was on Cloud's face.

“The future Empress of Wutai, the protector of Cosmo Canyon, the most honored men of Rocket Town, one of the top men in Corel. The best Turk the company had ever had and a woman who could knock out even SOLDIER Second Class without being out of breath. The team you had gathered around you had been impressive. Add the Cetra and Zack to that mix, and you had a power that makes you unstoppable.” Cloud looked at his brother like he had lost his mind. He knew his friends had been a big help. And often they had been the only reason why he had gathered the strength to move on. But what Rufus implied was unbelievable to him.

“Most of them are civilians Cloud. And they had been able to win a war against Sephiroth. The losses you had in his hunting were nearly nonexistent in comparison with the losses the company had had. And you had been the one to come out of it victorious. Your ways may have parted after that, but they had been there when you needed them. The same like you had been there when they needed you. Without them, I’m not sure, if we had stood a chance against the Scourge. Hell, we wouldn’t have lived until the Scourge had broken out. Neo-Bahamut would have blasted away all the people in Edge the day the Remnants had made their first appearance. And I can’t imagine what they would have done afterward.”

“If you would remember right; they had died in the fight against the Scourge.” Was Clouds answer. No one of his friends had survived the Scourge. Vincent and Reeve had been the last one. Vincent could not die. Thanks to Lucretia and Hojo. And the doctors had given Reeve not more than half a year left. Deep inside of him, he had hoped to see them again in the Lifestream. And to be able to say sorry for letting them die.

“Yes, they had died. Like Tseng, Rude, Reno and Elena had. But their deaths had not been in vain. And there had been nothing you could have done to prevent it. They had died protecting the people and the world they had loved so much. Don’t burden yourself with guilt over their dead’s. We are here to protect them from this fate.” Grey eyes, too old for the face they were on, looked at Cloud.

Cloud couldn’t look at his brother long. He turned his head away. They both had lost a lot. And even if it sounds egoistic, Rufus would get his friends back. Cloud on the other side was not so sure about it. The promise he had made Tifa had never happened. The whole events that had lead to the friendship and the bond they had shared would not happen either if Cloud could do anything against it. He would miss them deeply. “Can we please talk about something else.”

“Of course.” Rufus' voice was sad when he said that. He wished Cloud would talk about it. But he knew it would be useless to push him. He would talk when he was ready.

 The rest of the talk hadn’t been that heavier than the previous one. It had been mostly about Lazard. They had told the other man a few things. Or at least, they had hinted a lot. Lazard already knew a lot of Shinras dirty secrets. Well, in some way, he was one of them. And unlike Cloud, he would not get a place in the spotlight. Over time Lazard would see, that they were working for a similar goal. They had made the first steps. Only time could tell, what path it would lead them down. 

It had been nearly ten o’clock when the boys had decided to inspect the clothes president Shinra had bought for Cloud. The result of this had been no surprise. The things Cloud now owned where similar to the things Rufus wore. Cloud had a disgusted look on his face while he looked at the dozens of suits his wardrobe contains. He hated formal clothes.

"How can you wear these things?" Cloud looked at Rufus.

“I think I’m just used to it.” Was Rufus reply. His father had always given him clothes like that. And the Turks, the only persons Rufus was emotionally attached to, wore suits too. It had never crossed his mind to buy something different.

“It’s stiff, scratchy and ugly. And I don’t think it would survive my training.” Cloud was angry. They had planned to start training the next morning. Now they had to buy training clothes first. Perhaps Cloud could sneak into the cadet training. There had always been abandoned clothes that he could borrow. “Do you think the instructors would get it if I joined the cadets tomorrow morning?”

“You are nearly two heads shorter than most of the cadets. They will notice you, even if you hide that ridiculous hair.” Rufus answered a small smile on his face. They would not have other choice than to go clothes shopping tomorrow. And Rufus knew; Cloud would prefer to be skinned alive over that.

 


	8. Getting started

**Getting started**

 

The next morning was hell. At least for Cloud. The only bright point this morning had been the Turk that had joined them. Cloud liked Rude and his stoic look. It had been good to see the man again. It had been only a little unusual to catch him without his shades. But this problem had been fixed in the first shop they had been. After that, Clouds Martyrium had begun. Rufus liked shopping. Not as much as Tifa, Yuffie or Marlene had liked it. But enough that Cloud wanted to run in the other direction. And Rude had not been helpful. Cloud thought that the Turk had made full use of his new sunglasses, and had covered his amusement behind them. After two hours Rude had had mercy with Cloud. The shops Rufus had visited hadn’t had anything Cloud would ever wear. Rude had shown them a shop that had a bunch of things in military fashion. Rufus had looked interested while Cloud had raced through the shop, throwing T-shirts, Tracksuits, trousers, jackets, sneakers, and boots at Rude who caught them without problems. In lesser than fifteen minutes they had exited the store. Leaving a happy shop owner that had promised to send the things to the Shinra villa today. Cloud had used the time Rufus had paid to change into one of his new clothes. Rufus had just smiled as he had found out the happy look on Cloud's face. He was sure that the bags of Clouds military trousers would soon contain some knives, potions, and remedies. His little brother was a fighter by heart. And now he looked like one again.

 

The afternoon had contained some surprise for Cloud and Rufus. Rude had guided them to a gym in one of the darker parts of the plate. At that place they had met Tseng. It appeared like the Turks had more hideous than Rufus knows. Tseng had wanted to test Cloud’s ability with Materia. You could say that Tseng had not only been impressed. He possessed a facial expression on his face that means shocked by the Tseng body language. Well, perhaps Cloud had taken it a little too far. He had cut the target to a little pile of ashes within two minutes with firing a high rate of low-level fire spells. But he had had a lot of fun while doing this. And now, Cloud was the proud possessor of a fire Materia, an ice Materia, and a restore Materia.

After Tseng had recovered from his stupor, he had ushered the two boys to the shooting range in one of the rear rooms. It looked like he wanted to make sure that Cloud had told him the truth. And yes, Cloud had told the truth. He was adept at shooting. He had learned it as an infantryman and Vincent had shown him a little bit too. But he preferred a sword.

The star of the shooting range had been Rufus. It hadn’t surprised Cloud. Rufus had been one of the best snipers in Gaia in the other timeline. It had been pure boredom that had lead Rufus to take one of the guns in the room and shoot out the bull's eye on one of the targets. Tseng had tried to rectify some of Clouds mistakes at aiming at that instant. The Turk had starred at Rufus like he had grown a second head. This time it had taken longer than a few seconds for Tseng put his cool face back on. Afterwards, he had invited them both to the training area of the Turks for the next day. It looked like Tseng hoped they would be a future addition to the department. Cloud would have to disappoint him. But at the moment it would be good if he would get some real training.

Another unforeseen but good event of the day had been the teacher president Shinra had ordered for Cloud. It was a nice man, even if he looked a little stiff. They hadn’t begun the lessons so far. The man wanted to know what base he had to work with first. Cloud had been a little uncomfortable. He had never been someone that liked this kind of stuff. Back in Nibelheim Cloud had hated the teacher with the same passion the teacher had hated Cloud. That had been one of the causes, why Cloud had preferred to travel into the mountains over attending classes. In the other timeline, his schooling had begun in the Shinra cadet program. His knowledge had improved a great deal over the years, but Cloud was not sure how academic that education had been. He would write some tests over the next week. Cloud only hoped he would not embarrass himself too much.

 

Within the following week, Rufus and Cloud became regular guests of the training arena of the Turks. President Shinra had heard about Clouds and Rufus abilities and wanted to encourage them. In times like these, it was beneficial if you could take care of yourself. That was the reason why the two Shinra brothers get extra training in martial arts. For Cloud it was frustrating. He knew the movements. Had learned them from the instructors, and Tifa previously. But now he was 18 inches shorter than he was used to be. The mats in the training area had become his best friend truly fast. But he improved. And that was all that mattered.

Rufus had bought him some added weights in the fitness room they held at the villa as well. The swords Cloud normally throws around like candies where heavy. The Fusion sword he had gotten after meteor had been, if it was fully attached, heavier than Fenrir. That had been the reason why Fenrir had separate shafts to put in the single parts of the sword. The sword would have caused an unbalanced effect on the motorcycle otherwise.

Clouds body was currently in good shape. You gained a certain condition with almost living on a mountain. But he too was a twelve-year-old, growing boy. And that was something he hadn’t missed. Puberty was the pits.

He felt restless, got quickly angry, and often had the feeling, that his body played against him.

And it had barely begun. It would require a few years until he was his normal self once more. He had cursed Whiskey into hell and back. And that on a daily basis. Sometimes even more than one time a daytime. His hormones had had only one positive aspect so far. He had unlocked his first limit break, already. It hadn’t been that impressive without a sword, but the dent in the wall had been encouraging for Cloud. Tseng had looked a little pissed at when he had seen it. But Cloud was not sure if it was because of the dent, or because of the fact, that he had told the Turk that he would join SOLDIER when he was old enough. Maybe it had been both.

Rufus, on the other hand, had had that happy smile on his face that he always wore, when something seemed to go according to their plan. He was improving fast as well. Well, Tifa and Rude had taught him in martial arts previously and Vincent had trained him in the shooting. And the way Rufus had to work to get back into physical body wasn’t as long as the way Cloud had to survive. Cloud had been a one-man army after all. That called for certain training and a great deal of time to go.

At least if you manage it without crazy, meddling scientists.

The outcomes of the exams his teacher had made him write had astonished Cloud. His accomplishments in mathematics, physic, languages and IT were already high enough to get an academic grade in it. His political knowledge and his knowledge in business on the other side had been fatal. Tifa had done this sort of stuff for him while he had his delivery service. And it was nothing that Cloud was interested in any way.

The talk he had had with president Shinra about this had been a difficult one. It was important for their plans that Cloud would join SOLDIER. But it was likewise significant that the president liked Cloud and thought him loyal. Rufus had tried to prepare Cloud for the lecture. In the end, Cloud had just let the cat out of the bag after his own ideas. And it had worked. President Shinra had allowed Cloud to become a SOLDIER. But only under the condition that Cloud would work in his skills in IT, weapon development, and machine engineering as well. It had been a condition Cloud could live with.

It had been nearly half a year later, that the routine Cloud and Rufus had developed were broken. Cloud was, finally, able to work with his sword. Not just lifting the tip from the undercoat, but perform some training movements without dropping the blade.

No Turk in Shinra was able to fight with a sword. Only the SOLDIER uses this weapon. Thus, it was decided that Clouds training would be carried on in the SOLDIER area.

The Turks had not been happy.

Rufus and Cloud had become something like little brothers to most of the Turks in the department. Of course, all of them had known that Cloud wanted to join SOLDIER, but nobody had thought it would be so soon. He was not yet thirteen and would be the youngest in the SOLDIER area. His father had told him, that he would get a private tutor. Cloud did not know how that could be. He did know who was in the department at the moment and no one of this man had the personality to teach someone.

It had been Tseng that had to enlighten Cloud after his talk with President Shinra. “We had found some other candidate for SOLDIER in a small town southwest from Midgar. He had turned fifteen a few months ago and we had gotten the permission from his parents to start his training. Angeal Hewley will mentor him. It had been determined before you had come to Midgar. I think president Shinra will order General Hewley to teach you too.”

Cloud had only managed a breathless “When did the other boy arrive?”

He experienced only one boy at this point in time that could be mentored from Angeal Hewley. Cloud should have known that Zack had come into the SOLDIER program the unusual way. By getting scouted from the Turks. That meant Zack had skipped the whole cadet stuff and got straight into preparations to become a SOLDIER Third Class. The mentor would teach him the important things he had left out that style. But it was said, that scouted SOLDIER where rising the ranks faster. It would explain why Zack would make it to First Class in lesser than three years.

“The beginning of the next week. Are you curious?” a nearly undetectable smile was on Tseng’s face.

“No. I’m happy.” Cloud had answered with the brightest smile Tseng had ever seen from him.

 

_ - - - _

 

“What the hell had you talked about with Tseng?” Rufus was looking at him with curious eyes while he got into the fitness room in the Villa. Since President Shinra had agreed that Cloud could join SOLDIER, Rufus schedule had shifted. His father was preparing Rufus to become vice president. That implies a great deal of lessons for Rufus in addition to the training he was receiving from the Turks. Mostly he returned not before eight o’clock each evening. Cloud used the time he was alone in the villa to train and prepare something to eat for Rufus and himself. Today he had been too lost in his thoughts to do so.

“Why?” Cloud pushed the weights one more time before placing them back into their brackets.

“He had said, that I should cut back my training to have more time with you. And he had had the same look in his eyes, he had had when Reno had dyed Elena’s hair pink.” Rufus answered while grabbing one of the water bottles on the floor and give it to Cloud.

“Oh. So, he is unhappy that we had too less time together?” Cloud looked a little puzzled at Rufus while he took the bottle from him.

“Yes. Cissnei told me that you seemed to be happy that a boy around your age arrives here next week?” The puzzled look vanished from Cloud's face.

“No, not some boy. Zack is coming.” A light smile appeared on Cloud's face at that thought.

“Oh. That explains a lot.”


	9. An unexpected meeting

**An unexpected meeting**

 

Rufus shortened his training. At least the training with the Turks. At home, he could train with Cloud in the gym. He just wanted to escape the penetrating gaze of Tseng. The behavior would cool down after Zack arrived. Cloud would spend a lot of time training then, and Tseng could do a lot, but intimidating Angeal Hewley was something, only Genesis Rhapsodos could do. And Rufus had to agree. He had taken in too short time with his little brother lately. They both had a lot of work to do.

It would get better again. The lessons Rufus attended at the moment would be over soon. There was nothing, the teacher could instruct him. Cloud had no teacher, he studied on his own. Sometimes you could visit him in the machine engineering department where he took in some projects. Rufus suspected, that Cloud wanted to build Fenrir again. He had done it once, together with Cid.

The training in shooting, swords and martial arts would continue. Only not as intensive as it was today. They had to get back to the form they had had in the previous timeline. Rufus was getting close. Cloud would need a couple of years, until his body was at least 16 again. Then he would have his previous body height. For some of his stunts, his legs and arms were simply too little today.

That was the only trouble they had detected so far. They would have to stop AVALANCHE, the rebels and Genesis desertion without the battle power of Cloud. And to Rufus discontent they had to do it without the summoned water of Aerith too. She was the lone peak in their whole planning they had disagreed about.

Rufus wanted to contact her. Firstly, to apologize for the hardship Hojo and his father had taken her. But also, because she was the sole person on Gaia they knew, that could produce a cure for the Jenova cells. The water had healed Geostigma. There was a high chance that it would cure the degradation of Genesis and Angeal too. But Cloud was totally against it. He wanted to leave her out of it as long as possible. If it would go after Cloud, she would never be dragged into any of this.

Rufus had tried to argue with Cloud. At least until he had found out, that his little brother did not plan on contacting any of his old friends. Zack was coming to him. That was the only reason Cloud allowed it. It was his greatest wish to protect them. And if it meant that they wouldn’t meet in this timeline, Cloud would accept it.

It had broken Rufus heart to watch the sad expression in Cloud's eyes. But he knew, if he tried to meddle with this, Cloud would never forgive him. Rufus hoped, that someway, Cloud would meet at least a few of his former friends and befriend with them once more. Yuffie, he would meet. She had been part of the group that had signed the peace treaty after Wutai had lost the war. Only she would most probably hate him. Because he was a Shinra. It was not fair.

 

It was late Friday afternoon. Zack would arrive on Sunday morning and begin training on Monday. Today Cloud had a meeting with his father. It was rare that the president scheduled a meeting. Most of the time he just called for one of his sons if he wanted to discuss something with them. It unnerved Cloud deeply. He hated it to be dragged out of his training. And the people that had to fetch him hated it as well. It could easily happen that a spell or punch could hit you when you try this. The only known exception to this rule was Rufus. But nobody would dare to interrupt Rufus to fetch his little brother. It would lead to more than simply a few burns or broken ribs.

Rufus and Cloud had discussed the whole morning. Rufus wanted Cloud to wear one of the suits. It was a formally scheduled meeting after all. Cloud had denied it from the beginning. After the suit Rufus had picked for Cloud had burst in flames Rufus had grumpily agreed.

It was time that Cloud would join one of the military organizations of the company. He would take in some formal clothes that he would actually tire out and not let rotting in the closet. At least, Rufus hoped Cloud would wear the gala uniform.

When the time of the appointment arrived, Cloud was standing in front of his father's office. Rufus had accompanied him with a sullen look. At least Cloud had put on something similar to a SOLDIER uniform that wasn’t too broken. And with the sword attached to his back Cloud would look very impressive. If he hadn’t such a damn cute face. It was time that Cloud would grow out of this. Rufus had already growled on more than one person that had looked at Cloud with literally hearts in their eyes. Of course, the older Cloud had been a good-looking man too. But he had a great variety of looks that would promise a painful death to anyone that would come near him. At the moment this looks had been just sweet as well.

Even Lazard had already punished some cadets and infantrymen because they had attempted to establish a move on Cloud. The oldest of the three brothers had become very attached to Cloud. Rufus was sure that the other man had told someone to generate information about Cloud. And Lazard had not been happy about the things he had learned. It had worked in their favor. And Rufus had earned some respect in Lazard’s eyes too. He had dragged him out of it and was a good older brother to Cloud. More than Lazard had ever imagined he would. There was a high chance that, if Genesis contacted Lazard this time, the man would talk with Cloud and Rufus about it. They would be able to react before everything got out of control. Or at least, they hoped they would. The story of Cloud and the story of the three generals were similar. Perhaps that would cause an impact on things.

“He is awaiting you two”, the secretary said with a bright smile on their lips.

So, there would be more people attending this meeting. There had been voices on the other side of the door only a few minutes ago. Too low to hear who was talking or what about, but enough to know that there was more than one person in the office.

Looks like Cloud would be introduced to his mentor today. It eases some of the tension in the two boys. And the fact that Rufus was allowed to attend too was a good one too.

“Thank you,” Cloud answered the secretary, a soft smile on his face. He was always polite and respectful. More than Rufus were. That was one of the reasons the lower employees were so tender of the youngest Shinra boy.

Rufus just gives the secretary a polite nod while knocking on the door of his father's office. Waiting for permission to enter. He hadn't long to wait. But Cloud was the first one to enter the office. It was his meeting after all. When Rufus followed his brother, he nearly crashed into his back after they had done a few steps into the office. Curious Rufus looked around his small comrade.

The minute he laid eyes on the First Class SOLDIER in front of president Shinras desk Rufus understands the stupor Cloud had fallen inwards. They had not planned that they would meet him so fast. It would take two years until the war in Wutai would end. Seems like they had changed really a pile of matters already. There was no other explanation that Sephiroth would be in Midgar at this point of time otherwise.

 

Cloud had needed a few seconds to move again. It had aided that the Sephiroth in front of him was not only younger than the one he remembered, but also wear different clothes that Cloud was used to. The leather garment and coat that had been Sephiroth’s trade mark in the other timeline was no where in sight. The young man wore a slightly modified SOLDIER First Class uniform.

“Father?” Cloud looked at his father in question. Of course, he knew what that meant. He still couldn't believe it. Sephiroth was already the star of the Wutai war. The reports centered solely on him. If president Shinra would let him stay in Midgar, it would be a statement. Not for the public. They would get another war hero to worship. But to Hojo. If Sephiroth was called back to get a mere mentor for Cloud, it would offend the scientist. It would show him, that project S he was so proud of being a failure in the eyes of the president. In favor of the experiments Hojo had done with Cloud. He needed to talk over this new progress with Rufus.

The Turks would have to watch Hojo closer. Cloud knew, Veld would be happy about this order. The other man despised the scientist. Like most people in the company did.

“Hello you two. Rufus I’m glad you’re here as well. I need to talk to you later. Only first, Cloud comes a little nearer. I want you to meet general Sephiroth. He is the current leader of SOLDIER. And he concurred to be your mentor” there was a calculating smile on president Shinras face.

And the wording had rung some alarm bells in Cloud's mind. The current leader. Not simply the leader. President Shinra had just told Sephiroth, that he would be replaced later. And that he had to train his replacement. Cloud hated politics, but he had read a great deal about the different intentions behind words in the last half year.

The short glance he made to Sephiroth’s face doesn’t help that Cloud calmed down. He couldn’t read the expression the eighteen year old had. The crazy, world destroying Sephiroth Cloud knew. But the eighteen year old he had once been, he didn’t.

A light touch on his back brought Cloud back of his thoughts. The president and Sephiroth were looking at him. Still waiting for a reply.

“Sorry, I hadn’t expected to meet one of the generals. It’s an honor. And I’m truly grateful that you would train me, Sir.” A polite smile was on Cloud's face while he carries out his hand to Sephiroth. He fixed his look at Sephiroth’s eyes. Clear green eyes. Not unlike Aerith eyes had been. No cat-like slits. No madness or cruelty that was dancing in them.

There was the shadow of a smile on Sephiroth’s face while the general take a Cloud's hand. “It’s an honor to me too. And a surprise. I hadn’t known that the president had a second son.”

“It’s a long story” Cloud replied. Sephiroth accepted this reply with a nod.

Considerably, the first meeting wasn’t that disastrous as Cloud had feared.

 


	10. The returning of an old friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas.

**The returning of an old friend**

 

Cloud was sitting in the living room. A longing look at the bottles with alcoholic content opposite the couch he was sitting on.

His world had been shattered. Not in a bad way at all. Only in an unsuspected. Sephiroth had been really nice. A little closed up, like Vincent, Rude and Tseng where. And like Cloud had been in the other timeline.

He had worshiped Sephiroth when he was young. Had hated him after Nibelheim had burned. But today he had understood, that he never had knew him.

Zack had. They had been something like friends.

What had happened, that Sephiroth had become such a cruel and vile man? Had the reports in the Shinra Manson in Nibelheim really had such an impact on him? If it was that way, Cloud would burn down the building with great pleasure. After waking up Vincent of course.

_“No, that hadn’t been the cause. The reports had given him an excuse. He had felt lonely and betrayed at that time. And Genesis had reached him. Had called him the perfect monster out of the three. You had to know; Sephiroth had also suffered from degradation. Not on his body, but on his mind. Genesis had broken the last clear thoughts down. Sephiroth had longed to belong somewhere. Like you had a long time ago. Jenova had been a perfect aim for his fixation. She wasn’t able to reject him after all. Like all the people he had ever trusted had rejected him.”_

Cloud felt sorry for Sephiroth after he heard Whiskeys explanation. He hadn’t known that Sephiroth had suffered from degradation. Or that the desertion of Angeal and Genesis had affected him that much. Rufus and he had talked a lot about Sephiroth. And the things he had set in motion. Only they hadn’t come to a resolution. They simply hadn’t known enough about the whole thing. Or about Sephiroth himself.

Angeal and Genesis were widely known. Rufus had met them often and they had gotten along quite well. But Sephiroth had always been somebody that had kept for himself. Merely a few people had actually known him.

“Are you alright?” the concerned voice of Rufus could be heard in the living room.

“Yes. It was… unexpected.” Cloud replied, his gaze switching from the bar to Rufus.

“Considerably, I can make you some unexpected news too. Father wants me to become vice president already.” Rufus replied with a deep sigh.

“It’s too soon.” Cloud said.

“It’s just a method to make me a target. A represented position without a substantial obligation. Lord Godo will know it soon. And a fourteen-year-old is an easier target than a highly protected adult.” Rufus explained with a sullen look on his facial expression.

“Lord Godo wouldn’t attack a child. It’s against his honor as a warrior.” Cloud answered. “But yes, father would think that way. But why now?”

“He had you. And we both are too close to his taste. He had wanted you to replace me. To gain the control he thought I had over you, he will sacrifice me.” Rufus said.

“This plan won’t work.” Cloud shook his head over that stupid plan.

“We both know this. But it brings us into a good position. After becoming vice president, no one can withhold the company from me after father's demise.”

The look in Cloud's face showed that he didn’t agree with Rufus on that point. Rufus would have to get the back up of some department heads. Even if Veld and Lazard were on his side, Sephiroth and the other section heads were not. And Rufus still was a fourteen-year-old boy.

“All right, fine. But we're closer to that goal” grumpily Rufus agreed.

 

“What are you doing here, Cloud?” the unreadable eyes of Sephiroth watched the boy. It was Sunday and according to Tseng, Zack would arrive any moment. Cloud was standing at the heliport they would lay down.

Obviously Sephiroth wanted to greet his second pupil too. It had surprised Cloud that Zack would be mentored from Sephiroth. Only it was logic. President Shinra could order back one general without many problems. Only two would be too much. So Angeal was replaced as Zack’s mentor with Sephiroth too.

“I wanted to meet my new comrade” a smile was on his face as Cloud said that. He wanted to see Zack. Then he could really believe his old friend was alive.

The sound of a nearing helicopter made a reply without shouting unmanageable. So Sephiroth stayed quiet. His gaze switched to the nearing helicopter.

Cloud was a little nervous. This Zack he would not know. They would meet as strangers. And Cloud was really bad with first impressions.

The helicopter got down without a problem. Cissnei was a good pilot, even if she didn’t it often. Briefly Cloud wondered what had happened to her.

But he hadn’t much time to think about it. The second the helicopter had touched the ground the side door was opened and Zack jumped out of it. His eyes seem to scan the area around him. You could see his surprise when his eyes landed on Sephiroth. Soon after that, the dark blue eyes landed on Cloud. The look in them changed from surprise to utter joy. The dark-haired boy passed the short distance between them while the rotors of the helicopter were turning off. Before Sephiroth or Cloud had the chance to say a word, Cloud was in a tight hug. While he tried to understand what was happening, he could hear Zacks voice, whispering a soft “I’m proud of you, spikey” into his ears. The realization hit him with the impact of a train crash; Zack remembered. Cloud couldn’t hold back. He busts out in tears he had checked back for almost two decades.

 

_ - - - _

 

“You idiot!” Rufus looked furious at Zack. After seeing the emotional state Zack had put Cloud in, Cissnei had brought them to the Turk office. To be more accurate; to Rufus part of the Turk office. Generally, the office was a large, open room with grouped areas for the desks. The largest portion of the wall was covered in monitors where the surveillance cameras were on show. In the daytime, there were always four Turks watching the cameras. They rotated every two hours. In the nighttime, normally three Turks had shift. Movement sensors in the floor would notify them if someone was in the building at nighttime. In the rear rooms where interrogation rooms. It was the only rooms with cameras in the whole level. Opposite the department door where four doors. Behind one of that doors was Veld’s office. One was Tseng’s office who was the vice head of the department. The two other rooms had been utilized as storage room. One of them had been netted out for Rufus and contained an office. The other one had been cleared out too. It contained various blades, Materias, and a workbench for electronical work. That room had become Clouds.

Sephiroth had been kept back from Tseng while Cissnei had pushed Zack and a crying Cloud that were bearing on the other boy as if his life would depend on it, into Rufus office. After understanding why Cloud was in such a disarray, Rufus had shouted at Zack. How the hell should they explain that?!

“Don’t shout at him!” Cloud shouted back. Caught Rufus totally off guard with this conduct. As long as they both knew each other, Cloud had never yelled at him. Or anybody, even if they had deserved it.

“Spikey, your brother is right. I shouldn’t have rushed to you the moment I saw you. Only I hadn’t imagined you would be here already. She hadn’t been very informative since I’m here” a warm smile was on Zacks face while he said that.

“How is it, that you are here? Don’t take me wrong, I’m glad we get some help but we hadn’t expected something like that.” Cloud was right away looking at Zack. The traces of tears on his cheeks.

“She had asked me if I want to go back in time and help you and Rufus. She had called it ‘pulling back forces’ or something like that. I had agreed. You need someone that guarded your back. At least at the moment”, a soft smile was on Zacks face and he gently cleared the traces away with one of his hands. He earned a bright smile with this action.

“That’s wonderful, really. But can you please tell me how we should explain that to the Turks and Sephiroth on the opposite side of that door?” Rufus growled. He was a little calmer now. His brother was happy and yes, Rufus was glad too, but that wouldn’t solve their current trouble.

“Zack is really great at hugging people. At least when he is excited.” Cloud smiled at his big brother.

“And I think Cloud hadn’t had a lot of hugs in his life…” Zack added, his smile sadden while he talks. And yes, Zack was right again. At this stage in the timeline, Cloud hadn’t. Later Tifa, Yuffie, and the kids had made certain to clear that up for Cloud.

“You don’t run around and hug unknown people” was Rufus dry response.

“If they look like cute little baby Choccobo’s, I did” answered Zack.

It had been the wrong thing to articulate. Within seconds Cloud’s face was all red and Rufus needed a new door for his agency. It was just a reflex. Reno had often enough picked on Cloud because of his ridiculous hairstyle that at some point Cloud had just answered with a punch. And Zacks reply had been something, Reno would have said to annoy Cloud a little bit. The red face was the only thing, that was new. But well, Cloud hadn’t that much self control at the moment.

And, if Rufus could hear properly, there were relieved sighs coming from the other side of the doorway. That was a behavior of Cloud, the Turks know.

Something like pity began to grow in Rufus for Sephiroth.


	11. A new place to live

**A new place to live**

 

The look Sephiroth had had in his eyes when Cloud and Rufus left the office was a little strange. His gaze shifted between Cloud, the hole in the wall where a few minutes ago had been a door, and the knocked-out Zack that was laying nearly half way across the room.

“Nice hit, Cloud” Cissnei smiled at the youngest in the office while checking Zack for serious injuries.

“Thanks,” was Clouds answer. He was still a little red in the face.

“What had he done?” Tseng asked a little curious. Rufus was sure that for this question, all Turks in the room where listening.

Cloud didn’t answer verbally. The red shade in his face darkened again. Rufus, who feared for Zacks safety if the Turks would think he had did something inappropriate to Cloud, explained.

“He had called him a ‘cute little baby Choccobo’,” was Rufus answer while laying a reassurance hand on Clouds shoulder.

You could see in the looks on the faces that were turned to them, that the Turks did agree with Zack. But they were not stupid enough to say it loud. Cloud reacted a little aggressive if compared to something cute or fluffy. Sometimes Rufus wondered what his mother had smoked to name his little brother Cloud.

“I hope this didn’t become a habit of yours,” Sephiroth started to speak.

“Only if you call him cute, little or something like that,” Tseng answered with a faint smile. “He already had some training too. We have taught him some martial arts. And he trains with his sword too. Only basic motion patterns, but Cloud says, he needed the basics before the real training could begin.”

“I had planned to test their current state tomorrow. I hope, Zack will be fit enough for that?” a questioning look to Cissnei follow this sentence.

“Sure. He will be waking up soon. Looks like he is tough enough to keep up with Cloud.” Cissnei smiled back at Sephiroth.

 

_ - - - _

 

Ten minutes later, Zack was back on his feet. And he didn’t hold it against Cloud that the other boy had thrown him through half the office. On the contrary, Zack had asked Cloud if he could show him that move. It had brought a faint smile on Sephiroth’s face. Looks like the general wasn’t that unhappy with his students so far.

After that, the Turks accepted Zack. Well, at least enough to allow him contact with only a few watchful eyes on his back. Cloud needed people his age that could keep up with him. And it looks like Zack could do it.

You could see that Sephiroth was curious about the bond Cloud shared with the Turks already. First, he had thought it was because of his older brother, but it was soon clear, that the Turks liked Cloud for his own. They wouldn’t have started a discussion where the blond boy should life now if they wouldn’t care about him.

Being mentored meant, that Cloud was now something like a cadet. With early rising for drills in the break of the day and being taught different things through the daytime. It was unthinkable that his apartment would be equally far off from the headquarter that it was at the moment. Zack had asked if they could share at first. It wasn’t that uncommon that a group of younger people shared one. But Cloud would prefer it, if his living space wasn’t plastered with cameras. And that would have happened if Cloud would live alone with Zack. Rufus had rescued his little brother with the unexpected suggestion: “Then I’ll join you two. The villa is far too big for one person.”

Zack had looked a little sceptical, but accepted it after seeing Cloud's happy face about it. He hadn’t known Rufus in the other timeline and was a little unsure about the other boy. But if Cloud trusted him, he would give him a chance.

Sephiroth, who knew Rufus better, had looked a little surprised at the offer of the other boy. It would signify a great deviation for the rich boy to be responsible for his own. The expression on the faces of the Turks showed, that they considered Rufus as one of their own. And that meant the apartment would have no surveillance cameras. And no one of the cleaning personnel would dare get into the apartment without at least one of the inhabitants at home.

“Great. That means we will finally have the chance to use all the stuff you guys had brought us,” Cloud smiled at the Turks. He had, on more than one opportunity, complied about the material you could buy in Midgar for cooking. Cloud was used to fresh food that had grown almost naturally. Most things you bought in Midgar had been bred in a glass-house or one of the farms that surrounded the city. Only the things in the Turks and SOLDIER canteen was of better quality. Good, and in the canteen of the department heads of course.

Most Turks had made it their mission that, if they would be out of the city for a job, they brought fresh food back to Cloud. And yes, Rufus preferred the cooking of his little brother to the cooking in the canteen. Even if they had not a lot time to cook for themselves.

“Then don’t be surprised if one of us invited himself for dinner,” Tseng answered with a weak grin.

“You can cook?” Zack looked at Cloud a little surprised.

“Of course, I can.” Cloud looked at the other boy like he had lost his mind. You could not stay single your whole life without learning how to cook. Even Rufus could do it.

“Awesome. Sweet, nice and able to cook. Couldn’t have wished for a better new little roommate.” This time, Zack was kissing the wall. And Cloud was, again, beet red in his face.

The next time would be very interesting for Rufus. He wondered, how long it would be until Zack had gotten the do’s and don’ts around Cloud.

 

_ - - - _

 

Sephiroth had asked Cloud if he could tell Zack the schedule for tomorrow before he had left. It was his first almost-free Sunday in the past three years after all. And he wanted to look over his plan for tomorrow. After what he had picked up this morning, he would ask a little more subject for Cloud to test.

While Cloud waited for Zack to wake up again, Rufus had driven home to collect some of their things. They needed some clothes and toilet articles, at least until they had seen the apartment and knew what else was missing. Zacks things had been collected from someone else from the helicopter already.

“Only one room large enough for three persons is empty at the minute. If you still want to let your new friend life with you, you had to take it.” Tseng had looked at the files of the current empty apartments. Of course, there were more apartments. But this was the lone one that was cleared out from all spy-equipment. “And if we get a new Turk trainee, he would have to join you there. The flat is great enough for five people.”

That thought brought a bright grin on Cloud's face. The next Turk trainee would be Reno. The Turks haven't often got people. Between Cissnei and Reno had been three years. The next one would be Elena and that would take about seven years from this year along. But well, the death rate of Turks wasn’t that high. The infantry troops and SOLDIER lost more man and woman.

“That’s ok. And Tseng, you can trust Zack,” a gentle smile was on Cloud's face.

“Why? You just met him.” Tseng knew that Cloud was distant with new people. Most of the Turks had need several weeks to come closer to Cloud. Only Tseng and Rude the boy had trusted fully from the first day on.

“I… can’t tell you the whole story. But without Zack, I would not be here. He had saved my life. And I know, he would do it again,” Cloud had a sad smile on his face. He would not have him perform such a stupid thing this time. But the thought that he was important enough for someone to sacrifice his life for was a nice one.

Tseng just nodded. He had seen the truth in Cloud's eyes and even if he didn’t know the whole story, it was enough. From this day on, Zack would have the total backing of the Turks. He had saved the life of one of them after all. They owed him that much.


	12. First day in training

**First day in training**

 

It hadn’t been long until Zack woke up again. He had given Cloud a reassuring smile after waking up and let the other boy helping him back to his feet. “You’re lucky my head is thicker than that wall.”

“I know you're nearly indestructible,” Cloud smiled back.

“True. But I had forgotten how much it hurts. I’ll have a few bruises tomorrow,” Zack grinned proudly at Cloud.

“Your fault. Don’t call me such a sugary fluffy stuff again,” Cloud grumpily replied.

“Oh, I think I had just to learn how to duck properly”, Zack said. Earned a deep sigh with this statement. Somehow, Cloud had known he would say something like that. And yes, Reno and Zack would get along perfectly.

 

_ - - - _

 

“Cloud, I had something for you,” Zack entered the living room of their new apartment with a smile on his face. They had decided to pull their things in their rooms first and looked what the kitchen contained afterwards. Normally dishes, pots and things like that were already stocked in the kitchen. The same with sheets and towels. The apartments Shinra let the employees live in where fully furnished. You just need to put your clothes in the wardrobe and put up some pictures or something like that to make it your own.

“You hadn’t needed to get something for me” Cloud looked at Zack with a frown. He didn’t like presents very much. At least, presents without a meaning.

“Well, I hadn’t bought it if you think something like that. When I woke up after she had sent me back it was just there. Together with a nice, sharp sword for me. It’s in my room in Gongaga at the moment. But this I had taken with me to give it back to you,” Zack answered with a grin and hold out his hand to Cloud.

The other boy could just stare at the silver earring Zack was holding in his hand. It was his. There was a little split on the side. Yuffie had caused it with the tip of her Shuriken.

Cloud couldn’t withhold a smile while taking the earring out of Zacks hand. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

“Why? You’re not one fond of material things,” Rufus was a little curious. There had been only a few things Cloud had never let out of his eyes. The earring, Fenrir, the sword harness and his sword.

“It had been a gift from Marlene. She said, when I’m going all the time for my delivery service I should take it with me. To never forget that there is someone waiting at home for my return.” Cloud explained a loving smile on his face. “My fusion sword was the same. I’ve gotten each part from someone else. And Tifa had made the harness so I could carry it around.”

“So, you had always carried something from your friends with you. No matter where you were going,” now Rufus understands why these things had been so important to Cloud.

“They had wanted to show me that, no matter where I was going, they would be on my side.” You could hear in Cloud's voice, how much he missed them.

“You’ll see them again.” Zack smiled at Cloud. He was happy that the lonely boy he had once had known so many friends now. He really had deserved it.

 

_ - - - _

 

“I have to say; I’m impressed. You both are far ahead from what I had thought you would.” Sephiroth was looking at them. They had just finished the tests the general had prepared for them. Cloud was proud that he had been able to, finally, perform with his sword again. The movement patterns that he had trained weren’t that challenging after all. But you could see that Zack had trained too. Sephiroth had, after he had seen that, asked them to perform a training match. It was a good thing that they had used wooden training swords for it, or both boys would be gravely injured at the minute. Not that the training swords didn’t hurt. But if you want to become a SOLDIER you have to learn how to live with some bruises. It was a lecture some cadets never really understand.

“But you, Zack, lacked the strength to work with a real sword as easily as with the training sword. Till we have fixed that you will both use the training sword. And you Cloud… well, I’m not sure about some of your moves. It sometime looked like you want to lash out with both hands and not entirely the one you held your sword on.” Sephiroth looked at both boys as he addressed them. He had feared that the two boys would compete with each other. It was not unusual when a mentor had two trainees. That’s the reason why, normally, a mentor would only have one trainee at all. But the contrary was the case here. Both boys had worked well together and even corrected some of the mistakes the other had done.

“Yes, I want to be able to wield two blades at the same time. I’ve already practiced a little to do so” Cloud answered a smile on his face. He had been proud of his ability to change between different blades during a battle. Not only because the blades had been gifts from his friends, but because that had been something he had learned on his own.

“I’ve thought you wanted to learn to fight with a sword like the buster sword” Sephiroth looked curious at Cloud. Tseng had told him that. And Tseng was one of the few persons that were always truthful to Sephiroth, even if he hurt the other man with it. Tseng had also shown him the swords Cloud had practiced with. And all of these swords had been big, compact and heavy.

“I’ve trained with them too. I want to learn to handle different swords. There are situations and monsters where you call for brute force. A sword like a buster sword comes in handy there. But it will fail you if you wanted to fight against fast or agile opponents. At that point you need a lighter blade that wouldn’t slow you down too much. I want to be able to fight with various blades to adapt to the given situation,” Cloud answered in all honestly.

There was a strange look in Sephiroth’s eyes while he looked at Cloud. “That will be a long and hard way.” He finally answered after a few seconds of silence.

“I know. But that’s what I want to do. And… living is a lifelong education in various ways. At least, Master Zangan said that,” a soft smile was on Cloud’s face. Master Zangan had been one of the few people back in Nibelheim that hadn’t picked on Cloud. Sure, he has scolded Cloud regularly because of the fights he had started with the other kids. But he never badmouthed about him.

“Then, he is a wise man. I can assist you in the beginning of your training then. But the most part you will have to do on your own.” Sephiroth replied.

“That’s more than I had hoped for” Cloud answered with a smile on his face.

“Think I can learn this too?” Zack looked curious at Cloud. He knew that the younger of the two were right. There had been times when he had to put his sword down and blow the opponents with Materia away because he was too slow otherwise, or the opponent to agile to be hit right.

“I’m not sure. Your bone structure is different than Clouds. He is lighter and smaller. Good for fast attacks and the Enchantments will improve his strength without messing with the structure of his body. You on the other hand, are build broader. It limited your agility, but you can strike fast too, because the difference is not that high. But it’s enough to limit the swords you can use. That’s something, enchantments didn’t help.” Sephiroth explained to Zack.

“Then I’ll try to learn it as much as I could” Zack answered with a happy smile on his face. His training with Cloud was much more fun than his training with Angeal had been. He had liked Angeal like an elder brother, and the other had taught him a great deal. But now he wanted to learn new things. Together with Cloud.

“That you can do. Both of you can, actually. You are young and had lots of talent. Don’t limit yourself in the training, but don’t overdo it. An ambitious goal is good. But some things are just out of your ability and no training in the world can compensate this. It’s important that you learn what talents you had and what not.” Sephiroth looked sternly at the both boys. He was proud to have such trainees. With talents and goals. If he was honest with himself, he had thought that Cloud would lack any talent or dream. That he had gotten the permission to train because he was the son of the president. In his whole life he had never been more thankful for being wrong.


	13. The meaning of pulling back forces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone

**The meaining of pulling back forces**

 

„If you put your left foot a little bit to the right side you will have a better standing. And you will be able to get more power behind your blow because of that,” Sephiroth explained. It had been two months since they started the training. And the two boys had already surpassed any goals Sephiroth had had for them. In a few years they would be better than Angeal and Genesis. And perhaps, better than himself. It was a thought that scared him. But he also longed for it. For someone that was really his equals. Angeal and Genesis where good. But for some time, they were no challenge for him. They needed to attack both to hold their ground against him.

As suggested, Zack corrected the position of his foot. Then he stands a short time like that and tried to get a feeling for the position. “Is it only in regard of this blade or with a heavier too?”

A faint smile appeared on Sephiroth’s face when Zack responded. That was something he liked very much on both of his students. They asked questions and even started discussions with him on some points.

“No, not really. Only attacks with a backslash would be a problem. And if you are in defense of course. Sometimes small switches in your footing are the only thing needed to switch between defense and attack.”, Sephiroth answered.

“But… isn’t attacking the best defense? Don’t let the opponent push you into a position where you lost control.” Zack answered. It had always been his tactic. And it had worked well.

“It depends on the situation. You will go into defense if a bunch of civilians is behind you that you had to protect. If you would attack in that situation without backup that would take care of the civilians, you jeopardize their lives.” Sephiroth answered. It was one of Zacks weak points. The boy needed to learn that defense was as important as attack.

Zack thought a few seconds about it before he nodded. He knew that that was one of his weak points. Cloud had often enough beaten him because of it. Cloud didn’t go into defense very often too, but he was mostly too fast to get attacked directly. Or, Zack has been just too slow for the blond boy.

“Sephiroth?” Cloud addressed his mentor. His sword rested in his left hand. He switched the hand that holds the sword regular to get a feeling for both sides.

“You know… Rufus birthday is tomorrow. We have planned a little dinner in our apartment and I wanted to ask if you would join us.” Blue eyes looked at Sephiroth uncertain. He really wanted the man to come. And Zack and Rufus had agreed to that it would be a good idea to meet out of training. And it was a Saturday. Since Sephiroth had two trainees he hadn’t worked on the weekends.

“I’m not sure if Rufus would agree to this…” Sephiroth answered unsure. He had known that Rufus Shinra birthday was the next day. You can’t teach his two roommates without getting information like this.

“He had asked us to ask you,” Zack answered now, a smile on his face.

That answer Sephiroth hadn’t expected. And to be truthful, he felt a little overwhelmed. No one had ever invited him to a birthday party. Not even Genesis or Angeal.

“It’s just a dinner. Tseng and Rude will be coming too. And you don’t need to bring anything.”, Cloud’s soft voice broke the thoughts of Sephiroth about his friends.

For a few minutes there was total silence in the room. Zack and Cloud looked patiently at Sephiroth and waited for his response.

“I’d like to come.”

 

_ - - - _

 

“Would it be able that Cloud could come with me. Tseng wanted to see him as soon as possible,” it was nearly the end of their training session when Cissnei entered the room. She had a stern look on her face.

Something had happened, that was for certain.

“No problem. Any objections against me coming too?” Sephiroth answered, the faint smile, he mostly had while training faded away immediately.

“No, we’ve news for you too” was Cissnei’s response before turning around and leaving the training area. “Hurry with your shower, please. I’ll wait.”

 

_ - - - _

 

“Cloud, do you know someone from the slums?” Tseng looked at him with worry in his eyes. The boy had, on more than one occasion, outsmarted his observant and wandered around in Midgar.

Cloud looked at Tseng a little perplexed. Well, he knew a lot people that had been living in the slums. But none of them knew him anymore. “No, why?”

“A boy your age had come to the headquarter today. Obviously from the slums. The secretary in the entrance room hadn’t let him pass. So, he had given her this for you with the message; If you want it back, come to the flowers.” Saying this Tseng showed Cloud a transparent evidence bag. Cloud could only stare. In the bag was a key with a wolf head as pendant. It was his key. For Fenrir.

“How had the boy looked like?” Zack asked for Cloud. The Turks were already used to it, that Zack would accompany Cloud if he wasn’t explicitly told not to.

“A little shabby. Red hair, blue eyes…”, Rude began to speak. He had watched the surveillance cameras when the boy had appeared. And re-watched the tape after they had known that the message he had, had been for Cloud.

“Reno…” Cloud whispered. His eyes left the keys of his motorcycle and turned to Zack.

“Told you, you would see them again” was the only response he got. Reno wouldn’t make delivery services otherwise. And he wouldn’t have any attachments to Aerith if he didn’t remember. And her church was the only place in Midgar, where flowers grew.

“So, you knew this boy. And what that… key is for?” Tseng watched Cloud concerned. He had gotten the hint with the flowers too. And he had seen the boy Rude had shown him on the screen too. He was even on the Watchlist of the Turks.

“Yes. And yes, I knew her too.” Cloud answered. If Reno remembered and Aerith too, the odds were high that Tseng and Rude would remember too, in the near future. It would make some things easier.

“How good?” Tseng was in full protection mode now. It was nice to see that he could be that way for someone that was not Cloud.

“I would bet; better than you. And I’m glad that you looked after her that good. Keep it that way, please. She is… very important for me.” Cloud answered with a sad smile while taking the evidence bag that contained the key.

“Your father… will not agree with you.” Tseng answered a careful look to Sephiroth, who was standing a few feet behind his two trainees.

“My father and I… disagree on a lot of things. But luckily, Rufus agrees with me. And I think, you too.” Cloud was now stepping on thin ice. Not because of Tseng or the Turks. They were and would always be loyal to Rufus. But because of Sephiroth. Cloud could not say to whom the man would be loyal to. His father, or Rufus and himself.

“You don’t know your father”, it was a warning from Tseng.

“And you don’t know even half of the things he had done. Against Turks. Against civilians. Against infantrymen. And against SOLDIER. Don’t think I’m a little boy playing rebellion against his father.” Cloud answered with such hate in his voice that even Tseng took a step back and looked at him like he never had seen him before.

“Don’t think about it. Your mother would be heartbroken if I had to kill you before meeting her,” the smooth, dark voice that sounded behind him let Cloud spin around.

Sephiroth had one hand on the shaft of his blade, in his eyes you could see that he hadn’t decided yet if he would pull it or not. Behind him, was Vincent. The barrel of his gun pointed at Sephiroth’s head.

From the corner of his eyes Cloud could see the other Turks come to their feet. Of course, Vincent had seen it too.

“Vincent…?” it was Veld that had spoken. One of the other Turks must have given him a sign that an intruder was in the office and he had come to aid his men. But now he was staring at the person that looked like the day he had last seen him. Almost two decades ago.

“Hello Veld. Long time not seen.”


	14. A tale of the future I

**A tale of the future I**

 

“Your friends really like to make things complicated, could that be?” Rufus was standing in the door of his office, an annoyed expression in his face. For a second he was nearly sad that in the Turks area no cameras were installed. That was an image he would love to re-watch.

Nearly twenty Turks were standing in position to attack, while Veld was staring at the intruder. Said intruder had pointed a gun at the head of the top SOLDIER from Shinra who was clearly fighting with himself. Rufus had heard Vincent’s words. And he knows the other man had hit a really sore spot. Sephiroth’s mother. Who had, if you ask Hojo, not survived his birth. Add the light attachment the man had gained for his new trainees over the last two months and you could say that Sephiroth was, for the first time in his life, not sure what to do. Or better, to whom he should listen. The unknown man that talks about his mother and was obviously an ally of his trainees that he liked so much, or the company that had treated him like a weapon all his life.

“It was one of your friends that had caused this,” was Clouds dry reply.

“Really?” that part Rufus had not overheard.

“Reno.”

“Remember me to yell at him when we see him next time then. If you guys would put your weapons down, please. We can solve this without bloodshed.” To Sephiroth’s and Vincent’s great surprise, the Turks lowered their weapons. Even if they don’t put them away. It showed how much they trusted Rufus.

“You had known… my mother?” Sephiroth had decided that he would give the man a chance to explain. Even if all of his instincts were screaming at him to eliminate the danger to his life.

“Yes. And no matter what Hojo had told you; she is not dead.” Vincent answered but his gun stayed in place.

“She had come out of the crystal?” Cloud asked curious. He had always suggested that, if Lucretia would want it, she could leave her chosen prison.

“Yes. The presence that had brought us here had helped her.” If you knew how to look correctly, you could see the relief in the red eyes. Cloud knew the other man enough to know how much that meant to him.

“I thought she could send only people that were part of the Lifestream,” Zack looked curious at Vincent. He knew who that man was. Zack had watched Cloud closely after Aerith had joined him in the Lifestream. And yes, she had yelled at him what he had thought burden Cloud with so much.

“Not possible for me. That’s why she had sent the memories of my other self and woken me up. She had done the same with Lucretia. We had met in Nibelheim and waited for Tifa to remember,” Vincent answered, the last sentence more to Cloud.

“Could someone explain this, so it makes sense to normal people too?” Cissnei asked. A lot had been said. But nothing that made sense in any way.

“It’s not my decision,” Vincent just answered.

“Well, it would be good to make things clear with the Turks. Now that the war against Wutai is over. And I had a feeling that your little friend is responsible for that, Cloud. Even if I didn’t know how she could do it” Rufus said with a deep sigh.

“Don’t underestimate her. If she put something in her head, she did it.” Cloud defended Yuffie.

“I’ll hear it too.” Sephiroth said and finally put his hand from the shaft of Masamune.

“I’ll make some coffee then.” Zack sighed. It would be a long night.

 

_ - - - _

 

“Well, I’m not really sure, where to begin.” Rufus said with a frown on his face while looking to Cloud. They were seated in one of the interrogation rooms. It was the biggest one in the Turk area and the other Turks could watch everything on the cameras. Even if they had turned off the recording function.

The only persons in the room where Rufus, Cloud, Zack and Vincent on one side of the table, and Veld, Sephiroth and Tseng on the other side.

“It is quite a big story. With a lot of different parts to explain. Perhaps it would be easier if you ask questions.” Cloud suggested an unsure expression on his face.

“Vincent, what had happened to you?” Veld was the first one to speak. It was obvious that this question bothered the man.

“Hojo killed me. I’ve found out that he performed experiments on one of his colleagues that weren’t approved from Professor Gast. His colleague, Lucretia Crescent, had revived me with a substance she had investigated with my father. Before the lab accident. When Hojo had found out he had taken his turn too, and send me to sleep after his curiosity was satisfied. I’ve woken up half a year ago from my slumber” Vincent answered the question. And in view of the elaborateness of the answer, he must know Veld very good.

You could see that Sephiroth loosed a little of the tenseness in his body. He could understand how the man in front of him felt. He had been one of the favorite test subjects of Hojo for a long time.

“How did you know Cloud then? He had already been here in Midgar” Tseng wanted to know.

“I think, we should clarify one thing first,” Cloud said, a sad smile on his face. “Rufus and I had the knowledge about the events on this planet until the 20th March 2024. On this day, the population of Gaia had been 3.482. The events that had started this… mass destruction of the world had begun in October 2000. We had been sent back to make sure that something like that would not happen this time.”

“If you thought that we just believe a statement like that, you’re not as smart as I had thought” Sephiroth was the first one that answered.

Shortly after Sephiroth had finished, Clouds vision blurred. His blood boiled with rage. It had been that tone in his voice. The same tone he had had, when he called Cloud his puppet after killing Aerith.

 

_ - - - _

 

“… up.” A soft touch was in his hair. And there were voices. He knew these voices. One in particular caught him. He battled with his eyelids to open. Strange. He couldn’t remember to close them.

Rufus face was above him. He looked pale and a little shaken, but he smiled at him.

“What…” Strange. Even talking felt like a task, too big to do. What the hell had happened to him?

_“The cells Hojo had used on you had been activated. The last time they could not. They had been too weak from the battle with the Jenova-Cells after Hojo had captured you. And before that, you never had been so full of rage.”_

What the heck where the cells Hojo had used on him to let him feel so wrecked after they were activated. Not even after Zacks and his breakout from the labs he had felt that drained.

_“Well, I guess it’s time to tell you. Before you wipe out the whole population of Gaia on accident. The cells Hojo used had been cells of a WEAPON. Sadly, I’m not sure which one. The planet hadn’t told me, and it was a little angry at me after I tried to kill you.”_

At this moment, Cloud was glad that he hadn’t enough energy left to freak out properly. But this time, he swore, that poor excuse for a scientist wouldn’t have such a merciful death as the last time. Vincent and Rufus would surely be glad to help him.


	15. A tale of the future II

**A tale of the future II**

 

 

After Rufus had given him a few potions, Cloud had enough energy to sit up on his own. Even if his body hurt like hell with each move he did. Well, he had fought in conditions worse than that. Even if it was not very often.

The other persons in the room were looking as pale and shaken as Rufus did. Only Vincent seemed to be his cool, normal self. But you could see the worry in his eyes.

“You’re alright?” Zack asked concerned. He was sitting next to Cloud, supporting his friend until the potions did their work.

“Yes. What…” Cloud was not sure how he should ask.

“You showed them some of the events that occurred. It was… interesting to see these things from your point of view,” Rufus answered. “What had happened to you? You haven’t been… you.”

“Sadly, I have. The cells Hojo used had activated. At least, Whiskey called it that,” was Clouds bitter reply to that.

“You knew…” Rufus didn’t finish this sentence. Of course, he was curious. But when he looked in the face of his little brother, he was not sure if he really wanted to know.

“WEAPON,” it was only one word. Whispered nearly low enough to be overheard. But Rufus and Zack were too close to him, to not hear it. Zacks grip got stronger and he starred at Cloud with big eyes. Rufus reacted the most unusual way Cloud could have thought of. He laid his arms around his little brother and put him in a tight, warm hug.

 

_ - - - _

 

“So that… had been the future,” Tseng was the first one to speak. Half an hour had passed in silence while everyone had tried to think about the pictures and words that had been presented to them.

It must have been hard for Tseng. To see his own body, older than now, covered in blood and missing his lower half.

Sephiroth just starred at Cloud, his eyes guarded. Well, Cloud had been the one who killed him. Three times, if you count the events in the Mako reactor on mount Nibel.

“If we failed, yes.” Rufus answered, his eyes focused mostly on Sephiroth. His actions had had the biggest part in the future. Meteor had caused a lot of destruction and death.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Cloud whispered, looking straight at Sephiroth.

“I’ve seen what I caused. I’m surprised you hadn’t… Vincent let finished it earlier.” Sephiroth answered slowly. At the moment he was not sure, what to think. The things he had seen. The destruction he had caused. If this was his future, he would prefer it to die now to never let it happen. He didn’t understand why Cloud and Zack hadn’t tried to finish him before.

“You hadn’t been in your right mind. The Jenova-cells Hojo used on you are incompatible with humans. You all had seen the illness that had spread after meteor. We had called it Geostigma and it was caused from the Jenova-cells. This illness occurred to people who had Jenova-Cells in their bloodstream. But you, Genesis and Angeal had it impaled to your DNA. That had caused a different outcome. We had called it Degeneration. I’m not quite sure of all effects it had but basically it affects the growing of cells and damage the brain functions.” Cloud answered.

“Is there a way to cure it? Without… letting her die” Tseng asked. He liked Aerith. She was a sweet and nice girl. And Tseng was sure that nether Cloud nor Zack would let anything happen to her.

“We had to ask her, but I’m sure she can do it. I had… just hoped we could leave her out of this. But she remembered already, so she will work on it at the moment” Cloud answered a soft smile on his face.

“Lucretia worked on a cure too. She had started in Nibelheim while we waited for Tifa to remember,” Vincent told them.

Lucretia had always felt sorry for the things she had done. To Vincent and to Sephiroth. It looked like she now tried to fix at least the things, she had done to her son. And not simply drowned herself in the guilt she felt over it.

“Lucretia would be a big help in regard of Hojo too. She had been the one intended to take the position of Professor Gast. Her disappearance had caused the intern battle between Hojo and Hollander. After Project G had been labeled as a failure, Hojo had become the new department head.” Veld said, a questioning glance to Vincent. He was not sure if Lucretia wanted to come back to the company. And he could understand if she didn’t do it. Like he would understand if Vincent didn’t come back.

“I don’t think so. Even if Lucretia comes back, Hojo would stay in his position. Project S is called a failure too. It hadn’t changed anything yet and it wouldn’t. We would only endanger her if she came back now.” Rufus answered a frown on his face.

“Why do you think so? She is more capable than Hojo.” Veld tried to argue.

Cloud answered for his older brother. “Because of Deepground.”

“The hospital for wounded troops and SOLDIER?” Veld asked in surprise.

A questioning look from Cloud for Rufus followed this statement. He just shook his head. The images of the last attack against Deepground hadn’t been clear enough to understand the meaning behind it.

“It’s not a hospital. Not anymore. Thousands of people had been captured there, using them as subjects for human experiments. President Shinra wanted to create an army. Stronger than humans and loyal only to him. Heidegger and Hojo had helped him. And a woman called Scarlett. She will become head of the weapon development soon.” Vincent answered. He had already checked the current state there. It had been a little tricky, but he had managed to sneak in there and get the information he needed.

“And not only troops and SOLDIER. Each part of the military that had declared dead without a body found, or that had vanished on duty had been captured and brought there. Even Turks. That’s why father hadn’t told you. He knew that the Turks wouldn’t allow harm to one of them. I think the idea had been from Hojo. It was created after the experiments he did on Vincent. Most likely this had given him the thought that he could do it with other persons too.” Rufus said. At least that information they had gotten from the ruins of reactor zero after Deepground was defeated.

And if Tseng would have known anything in this direction, he would have told him before Deepground had started his war against humanity. It was no wonder Veld hadn’t known too.

“I had known president Shinra is a power-hungry bastard. But I wouldn’t have imagined, that he would sink that low.” A lost expression was in the eyes of Veld. He had worked his whole life for the Shinra company. And even if he had done some things he wasn’t proud of for it, he had thought it would be all for a better future. Not only for him, but for the people he cared for too.

“We can count on you to help us?” Cloud asked hopefully. It would make a great difference if they did. The information a Turk could collect could be the difference between success and failure.

“I can’t speak for my men, but yes, I’ll help you” Veld said. He was sure that the other Turks would help too. But it would be their decision to make.

“Me too” Tseng followed shortly after that.

“If you thought I wouldn’t endanger the whole thing, I would like to help too.” There was a look in Sephiroth’s eyes Cloud had never seen before as he said that. But somehow Cloud knew what that look meant. All his life Sephiroth had suffered because of the things Hojo and President Shinra had done to him. Now he knew, he was not the only one. Hojo had dared to capture the man and woman Sephiroth felt responsible for. To use them in his human experiments. It was not rage in his eyes. And not insanity. It was the wish, for cold-blooded revenge. Not only for himself, but for all the people Hojo and president Shinra had used like they saw fit. It was a feeling, Cloud knew too well not to see it. And he could fully understand it.

“I would love it to have you on my side this time.” A small smile appeared on Cloud’s face.


	16. Planning the next steps

**Planning the next steps**

 

“So, what’s the next step in your plans?” Veld looks curiously at them. They hadn’t been told the whole story, but they had seen pictures of the events. Images of destruction, death, panic and fights. And Cloud had said, it had begun in the year 2000 and ended in 2024. There was no chance they could speak about all events in one evening.

“Well, we had planned to train and try to stop the war raging in Wutai. The men and woman on both sides will be needed in further events. The presence that had sent us back had done something we hadn’t expected; she sends our most trusted persons back too. Or at least, she is doing so. Reno is one of my men. Vincent and Zack are two of Clouds most trusted. Together with Tifa and Aerith. And, well, the daughter of Lord Godo and future Empress of Wutai, Yuffie. It looks like Yuffie had, somehow, convinced her father to accept defeat. So, we had to plan in hindsight of the new events.” Rufus began to explain.

“Your friends with the future Empress of Wutai? How the heck did you do that?” Tseng looked at Cloud with wide eyes.

“At the beginning she had joined us to wait for a good opportunity to steal our Materia. But… the longer we travel together, the deeper grow our friendship. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that all of us treated her like an equal, not a little girl. She had been, rather frustrated at this time because everyone in Wutai did so.” A fond smile was on Cloud’s face as he explained. Yuffie had been the jumping bundle of joy in their journey. Without her, the thought of everybody in the group would have been so dark that Cloud was not sure if they would have continued or, on one day, simply given up.

“She had been sixteen at that time. And I must say, she had led the evacuation of Midgar quite good. But she is only seven now. I’m surprised she convinced her father with such a young age.” Rufus said, looking questioning at Cloud. His little brother had been a few years in Wutai and he knew Lord Godo. Perhaps he had a guess how.

“Wutai had an old culture and believe. If Yuffie told him anything, he would have to listen to her tale. He could demand proof from her, but Yuffie is smart. She wouldn’t have told him without already having proof of her words, that a goddess had sent her back. And if this proof is acknowledged her position in Wutai will be higher, than even Lord Godos. She is someone sent from the god’s. Her word, is law.” Cloud explained. The short nod of Tseng confirmed his words. Tseng was Wutai to some part and he knew enough of the culture to back up Clouds explanation.

“Did it help with the rebels too?” Zack asked, a light frown on his face. His time as SOLDIER had been rather hectic. There had been the Wutai rebels, the Genesis copies, and the AVALANCHE attacks. And to less SOLDIER and Turks to be everywhere when needed.

“Perhaps. It depends on how she worded her demand. If she had told everybody, that Wutai would be free again in the future, even if the capitulated now than the rebels will perhaps wait a few years to see if the promise she made come true.” Cloud answered. He knew Yuffie good enough to know that she had promised her people something like that. And after president Shinra was replaced from Rufus it would be no problem to keep this promise.

“So, the next steps are in regard of AVALANCHE and Genesis,” Zack said.

“Not only, I want to try to do something about Deepground. The longer we wait there, the more people will be enslaved. And the Tsviets are not complete at the moment. I…” Cloud stopped in his explanation. A thought had come to him and as he looked to his older brother, Rufus had gotten it too. “You think it’s possible?”

“Yes, the scientists responsible for Deepground are hidden from the world as Deepground itself is. And Scarlet already had contact with them. It’s most likely one of the scientist from Deepground that had created the Scourge.” Rufus answered a dark look in his eyes. He had looked at the totally wrong place in the last half year.

“What exactly is the Scourge?” Sephiroth wanted to know. It was alarming that the two Shinra brothers who had lived through so much hardship spoke about this event with light fear in their voices.

“The Scourge was… a biochemical weapon. Transmitted through the air. If someone gets it, he died a most painful death. It kind of… melted the person from inside. The only exception where people who had Mako in their bloodstream. They become aggressive, bloodthirsty. Their feeling for pain vanished completely. I remember the one we had shoot 18 times, and he still attacked. Most people working in Shinra had Mako in their bloodstream. It’s one of the most used substances in the company. Not only to make energy out of it. Normally the body cleaned itself from the Mako in his bloodstream. Only if you are working for years with it or getting it injected the Mako will become a normal part of your body.” Cloud answered Sephiroth.

“But you hadn’t caught it?” If it was transmitted through the air and with all the Mako Cloud had in his body, it was a wonder he wasn’t infected with it.

“He had been infected. The Scourge is mostly transmitted through the air, but if you get bitten by an infected one or get some of his blood in a wound of yours you will catch it too. That’s why we mostly attack the infected with guns. Cloud had been bitten several times when he had rushed in, to save someone. It had never affected him. Vincent was the same.” Rufus answered. Clouds blood had been the base they had used to create a cure. It had been a torture for his little brother to let a doctor taken his blood. He hated syringes, sterile rooms, and anything that remembered of a laboratory.

“If you call losing the control of one of the creatures he shares his body with nothing.” Cloud snorted. It had been rather unnerving for Vincent. But his creatures never attacked an uninfected. So, it had been a price he was willing to pay.

“Still wondering about that. I mean, you had swum in the Lifestream for two weeks. The amount of Mako in your bloodstream would have been enough to kill a whole town with.” Zack said while looking at Cloud. He and Aerith had withdrawn from their watching position after the Remnants had been defeated and Sephiroth had become part of it. He had seen a few things from Deepground and the Scourge. But not enough to complete the picture.

“The cells he carries are highly compatible with Mako. Like Chaos is. They had changed the structure of the Mako to a point where the Scourge couldn’t recognize it as Mako while it protected the body from dying from the effects it had on people without Mako in their bloodstream.” Vincent answered this time. Confirmed for Cloud that, yes, he had heard which cells Hojo had used on him.

“So, we are able to create a cure?” Veld asked hopefully. They did it once, they could do it again.

“If you give us a sample of the Scourge and a scientist, not crazy enough to use it to his advantage.” Was Clouds dry response. You couldn’t create a cure without having a sample of the thing it should cure. “In the past timeline, a of the scientist of the WRO had helped us creating the cure. And I didn’t know where Reeve had found him.”

“Lucretia would do it, but she would need a sample of the Scourge to. And she is already researching a cure for Degradation and Geostigma.” Vincent answered. Yes, Lucretia had made mistakes in her position as a scientist. Grave mistakes. But she regretted them deeply and was willing to do anything to make it better.

“Who is she anyway? You had talked a lot about her?” Sephiroth asked. He had a bad past with scientists. And if he thought about all the things he had heard, the others had a bad past with them too. So why did they still trust one of them.

Vincent and Cloud shared a long look. You could see in Cloud’s eyes that that was something, Vincent had to tell. A few minutes passed that way until Vincent broke the eye contact and let out a deep sigh.

“Dr. Lucretia Crescent had been part of a research team in Nibelheim. The team had been led by Professor Gast. Hojo had been a part of it too. They researched a two thousand years old body, they had found in the Northern Crate and misidentified it as a Cetra. They named it Jenova. When Lucretia got pregnant, they had seen it as an opportunity to use their research material to let a new Cetra be born. The first after thousands of years as they thought. It had been the plan of Lucretia and Hojo. Professor Gast had nothing to do with it. Hojo started the experiment on his own and called it Project S. Seven months later, Lucretia gave birth to you.” Vincent explained, the same soft tone in his voice he had, when speaking to Marlene or Denzel in the other timeline.

Sephiroth just stared at the other man. This scientist they talked about had been his mother, no she is his mother. And she had agreed that Hojo could experiment on him before he was even born.

“Hojo had lied to her.” Cloud began to speak. He had read the reports in Nibelheim. At that point in time, Hojo had already known that Jenova was no Cetra. He had had his own theories. One of it the Reunion-theory. But to prove it he had needed a living object infected with Jenova-cells. “He had known that Jenova was no Cetra. Your mother had believed in it. She had agreed to help bringing the Cetra back to Gaia. She had never thought that Hojo or president Shinra planned to use you in such a way. And yes, the president had known about it. Around the same time, he had agreed to another project with the Jenova-cells. It had been called Project G. Angeal and Genesis are the outcome of this project. I don’t know if the wife of Professor Hollander had agreed to the project on her own free will or if she was forced.”

“We should take a break. It was already a lot we told you” Rufus suggested. It would bring nothing if they overextended the three men in front of them. And the Turks that were watching in the other room.


	17. Origins

**Origins**

 

“Are you alright?” Cloud looked curious at Sephiroth, who was standing at one of the few windows in the Turks offices and watched out of it. It remembered Cloud too much of his behavior in Nibelheim the day before the town had been burned to the ground.

“Should I? My own mother had agreed to…” he stopped midsentence. Not able to finish it without being hurt further.

“Mine too.” Cloud answered nevertheless. Sephiroth eyes left the image of a foggy city at night and looked at Cloud now. “And the cells Hojo used on me where just a mere sample. Not even enough to say if it were human or not. I’m not sure if president Shinra even asked him.”

“Why don’t you hate them?”, his voice sounded lost, and helpless.

“I hate my father for allowing Hojo experiments on my mother. And I hate my mother for the same reason. But… when I recollect about my past, I have not been any better. When Geostigma broke out and Denzel was infected, I would have done anything to get a remedy. The same was with the Scourge. Without the research of the genetic differences between me, the infected and not-infected persons we would never have found a cure. I don’t really know why your mother had allowed it. And I think, not even Vincent knew the reason. You'll have to ask her yourself. Only I don’t suppose it was just curiosity that had made her do it. I mean, she had researched the Chaos-Gen with Vincent’s father for years. And the only reason she had used this knowledge was Vincent’s death. She could have found other subjects, if she would be as ruthless as Hojo is.” Cloud's eyes were gentle as he talked.

“Why did you defend her? You didn’t even know her.”

“Because I know Vincent. And he wouldn’t have loved her so much if she would have been a bad person. She had made a huge mistake. We know that by now. She knew this too. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stayed imprisoned in a crystal for the last eighteen years to pay for her sins.” The last sentence caught Sephiroth. His eyes grew a little wider as he heard that.

“She had imprisoned herself?”

“Yes. You had been taken away from her the second you were born. Hojo had never planned that she would be part of your life. He told her so, and showed her proof that he had the backup of president Shinra for it. At this moment she realized that she had been used. She had left Nibelheim the second she was able to walk again. In her mind all the things she had allowed to happen to you and the things she had done to Vincent. She sealed herself in the crystal she and Professor Valentine, Vincent’s father, had found the Chaos-Gene in years ago.”

Cloud could see that some of the dark shadows in Sephiroth’s eyes vanished. He had given him a new view of the events that had cleared away some of his dark thoughts. But the other man would have to make his own mind of the events before his birth. And he would have to talk with his mother.

“You know, I’ve never heard you call the president your father. Well, at least not if he is not present.” The two men were interrupted from Tseng who was standing behind them. He had wanted to look after Sephiroth, that was clear for Cloud. And if the faint smile, the silver haired man had on his lips meant something, then the other man had got it too.

“Of course not. There is more needed than a few genes to be a parent. And he had done nothing to deserve being called one” Cloud answered calmly.

“So, who would you call a father then?” Tseng was curious now.

“I’ve never had a father. Or a mother if you remember right,” Cloud said with a deep frown on his face.

“You had called Aerith mother” Zack jumped in the conversation, a bright grin on his face.

“I had been beaten down and shot at. You can’t hold anything like that against me” Cloud pouted. Why had Zack brought up that subject? Cloud had been glad that his little mishap had been in the Lifestream where no one of his friends had heard it.

“Aha.” The tone in Zacks voice showed him, that the boy didn’t believe him.

“Oh, shut up.” Cloud shouted, bright red in his face. It had become one of Zacks talents to make Cloud blush furiously. Most of these times he kissed the wall shortly after doing so.

This time, a light chuckle coming from Cloud’s left side rescued Zack. Sephiroth was laughing lightly, amusement in his eyes while he watched the behavior of his two students.

It was the first time, they hear Sephiroth laughing about something. And that’s not in that cruel way he had in the past timeline. If it meant a little embarrassment from Cloud, it was worth it.

 

_ - - - _

 

It was another half an hour later, that the group was sitting in the interrogation room again. Most of the other Turks had gone. They had heard enough to make their mind and it would look suspicious if too many of them would stay in office after work. Tseng and Veld were known workaholic. No one would suspect anything when this two stayed longer. And Sephiroth had his two students that used every opportunity to learn more.

“You said, my mother is back in Midgar?” Sephiroth looked at Vincent with unsure eyes. It would take a while, until he would initiate a meeting with her. But it would be good to know where she was.

“Yes. We had found an empty Warehouse on the edge of Sector 4.” Vincent answered, not only to Sephiroth but to Cloud too. Tifa was with them after all.

“Do you know what plans Tifa had?” Rufus had caught the hint too. And he knew, Cloud would not ask. He would wait until meeting Tifa and asked directly. But the hints Vincent made were not only as a reminder. Mostly they had a meaning.

“She wanted to join the cadet program next year. We’ve already changed her age when entering town from twelve to thirteen. So officially she is 14 for the next applications.” Vincent answered.

“Why? I thought, how had she said it; Before I join the military, Vincent and Red performed a Lab dance on the beach of Costa del Sol.” Rufus said in surprise.

“Not really. She said; before I join the Turks. She didn’t sign in for joining the Turks. She’d wants to applicate for SOLDIER.” Vincent said calmly. He was still a little amused inside that Tifa would say something like that to make a statement.

“She… what!” Cloud stared at Vincent with wide eyes. There were a few lone female SOLDIERS. The most woman simply hadn’t the personality to join. But yes, Tifa would have it.

“She said; Someone needs to be there to kick Cloud’s ass if he tried something stupid.” Vincent explained.

“Sounds like something she would say,” Cloud said with a deep sigh.

“And like something she would do,” added Rufus a small smile on his lips.

“You think she would make it?” Sephiroth joined in the talk. He was responsible for SOLDIER and if a friend of Cloud wanted to attend he would like to know it before it actually happened.

A simple “Yes” answered him in four different voices. Seems to be something that Rufus, Cloud, Zack and Vincent agreed.

“In the past timeline she had been strong enough to take on a SOLDIER Second Class without problem. And she had still been a civilian. We had found out that the Reactor in Nibelheim had leaked a little. It had had a strange effect on the people living there. They are stronger, more resistant, and faster. Most of the people had been used through Hojo for experiments after you had burned the town to the ground. In our old timeline, Tifa and Cloud had been the only ones being left from the original population of Nibelheim.” Rufus explained to the general.

“Well, something like that happened if you build a reactor in the heart of a mountain with great temperature difficulties and then forget to maintain it for nearly two decades” Cloud snorted. Another point why he had been angry of president Shinra.

“I would not say; forget. It was done on purpose. The Jenova corpse was there and it is one of Hojos best hidden secrets. On record, there was a yearly inspection of the reactor. Led by Hojo.” Rufus answered, looking a little ashamed.

“Yeah. And I think it’s not a great surprise that these maintenances where scheduled shortly before the SOLDIER exams where.” Was Clouds dry response.

The people of Nibelheim had never seen someone of this maintain-team. That was one reason why the mountain had been off limits for children. Well, nobody had bothered to stop Cloud.

“We had to do something against that. The Cells are too unstable to use it for so many people that get extra strength through the Mako-injections.” Rufus sighed. Well, the war was over, now the real problems begin.


	18. Next steps

**Next steps**

“I think this problem will solve itself” Cloud answered his older brother. “Project S and Project G are failures.”

“You think he will use the cells you had for the next SOLDIER?” Zack asked, a frown on his face. He would be one of the next SOLDIER ready for treatment after all.

“Actually, it is unusual that you two hadn’t had the first injections. They start mostly two weeks after mentorship.” Sephiroth interrupted. “But what did you mean with all this? Why should it be important that Hojos visits had been before the exams?”

“The substance the new SOLDIER will get injected are not purely Mako. Sure, the treatments from Third to Second and from Second to First are only Mako-injections in high doses. Only the initial injection contains prepared Cells from Jenova. Not as much as you or the other generals had, but enough to change the metabolism of the persons extremely. The gag of the whole matter is, why he had caused it. You have to know, the cells reacted to each other. Higher cell concentration means greater response. Older cell means better control. You and the other three general have the highest concentration of the oldest cells. You could say; SOLDIERS are genetically programmed to follow your instructions to a certain point” Rufus answered for his little brother. The last time Cloud had to think about the reason behind the treatments he had blown up the computer that had displayed the files.

“The more I learn, the more I hate him” Sephiroth sighed deep.

“Believe me, you’re not the only one. But, to make you feel better; the Deepground-Soldier had a microchip implanted that made sure that the president or the Tsviets had full command of them. No certain point there.” Cloud explained further.

“It had been unnerving” Vincent agreed.

“It had almost been as bad as with the Scourge. And I think, if the Deepground-Soldier would not have worn their helmets, it would be as bad. It’s harder to kill someone you recognize than an unknown face behind a helmet” Cloud sighed deep. He was sure, he had known a lot of the Deepground-Soldier from earlier.

“Well, when the Scourge came, all people were already worn out. I mean, between Meteor and Deepground had been three years. The Remnants had only haunted Edge. And between Deepground and the Scourge had been five years.” Rufus added his opinion. It had been a little miracle that the people still had enough spirit left, to fight.

“They had followed Cloud. If Cloud would have died earlier, the spirit would have vanished quickly.” Vincent said, a small smile at the little boy. “He is an inspiring leader.”

“It was personal,” was all Cloud said at that. And for him, it had been. Yuffie, Reno and Tifa had died in the first wave of infections, before they had had a name for it. The day Cloud had heard that it was not just an illness, but an attack with biochemical weapons he had sworn to revenge them.

“That is was, for each one that fought with us.” Rufus replies.

“To come back to the topic; What’s the plan from now on?” Tseng interfered. It was interesting to listen to the three men. Zack was quite the most times, but you could see that the other three had lived through a lot together.

“It stayed mainly the same. As long as neither Aerith nor Dr. Lucretia had success in their investigations. We need to contact Reno, perhaps we can do the same thing to him that Tifa had done and make him a year older. A year is a lot of time. And I’m pretty sure he is ready for the cadet training. And we had to talk with Yuffie, she will surely accompany her father when the treaty will be signed so this is no problem. And well, then there’s AVALANCHE. The most important question here is; do you know where your daughter currently is, Veld?” Cloud asked the leader of the Turks. The man was staring at him a little surprised. The happenings with AVALANCHE hadn’t been a big topic till now. They had explained what the group works for. And the differences between the main group Shinra had fought and the leftovers Cloud had led to a war against Shinra and Sephiroth.

“I’m not quite sure. We’re not really on speaking terms at the moment. Why do you ask?” Veld wanted to know. You could see in his eyes that it doesn’t suit him to imagine his daughter in a group like AVALANCHE.

“She had founded and led the group. It had, ultimately, turn to your death in order to avoid the liquidation of the Turks as a whole. And if I hadn’t been vice-president at that moment I’m not sure if I would have had the power to prevent it.” Rufus answered with a sigh. He had bound his own hands with this decision. His father hadn’t removed him from his position because of the negative press it would have caused. But from this day on till the death of his father Rufus had been discarded from all board meetings and his position had purely been on paper. There had been rumors that a replacement for him was found a few weeks before Sephiroth had killed the president. Rufus suspected Scarlet. She had done a lot to get on the good side of his father and it would explain why she had tried to claim his position after his father’s certain death.

“But... why would she… I knew we have our disagreements, but I’ve never thought she would do something like that. She hates violence.” Veld was shocked.

“Believe me, after a certain time with Hojo, you got over such things,” Cloud snorted. “Only, I’m not sure if he already had captured her or not.”

“What! This poor excuse of a human being had captured my daughter!” Now Veld was furious. Hojo had always stayed away from the Turks and the families of them. At least, he had thought that.

“Yes, she and a lot more people. If we could be sure his… sudden demise would not leave us to the possibility of someone like him that we didn’t know about we would have cleared this point already.” Rufus said calmly. He could understand the feelings of the man. If he thought about Cloud, nearly five years captured in the laboratory in Nibelheim, he just wanted to beat the shit out of Hojo for daring to touch his little brother.

“The next one in charge would be Dr. Hollander. He is… not as bad as Hojo is.” Sephiroth answered slowly. He knew Hollander of course. It was Angeal’s father after all.

“Absolutely not!” Zack interfered here. What the man had done to Angeal and Genesis had been unforgivable. “He had been the reasons for the Genesis-Copies and had used Angeal’s cells as a source to create monsters in disguise of looking for a cure for degradation. He had even infected and killed Lazard this way. He can’t be trusted. He would grab the first opportunity to stab everyone in this room in the back if he thought he could get away with it.”

“Is there even one scientist one of you would agree with?” Tseng looked a little annoyed. Of course, he understands the reaction of the four. But it didn’t make their work easier.

“Dr. Akron” Vincent said in a deep voice.

“Who’s that?” Rufus looked a little surprised at the ex-Turk.

“He’s the father of Dr. Shalua and Shelke. He disagreed with a lot of the… moral aspects that are currently in the science department, but kept quiet enough that no one had gotten it. His wife is sick, and he had two little daughters, so he needed this job. And he is quite good in it too. Hojo didn’t like him because of that. Neither did Hollander.” Vincent answered.

“That sounds at least like a possibility.” Cloud said. He trusted Vincent’s observations.

“Then we should try to bring the president to take note of him. I think, that should be Cloud’s job. He is in need for someone to overlook his health and for the treatments, after all.” Rufus agreed with a light frown. He didn’t like this at all. But they didn’t have another plan.

“What had happened to him? It is clear that only you, Vincent, knew him,” Veld was a little curious about this. And about the amount of trust Cloud and Rufus had for the other man.

“Shelke had been captured to become part of the Tsviets. Dr. Akron tried to get her out of it and lost his life for it. Dr. Shalua was, at the beginning, part of AVALANCHE, but when the attacks grew more brutal, she left and tried to fight against Shinra on her own.” Vincent explained. He had helped Shelke to gather as much information about the happenings of the past as possible.

“Well, the big question is; how to get in contact with him, then.” Rufus said.


	19. Chapter 19

**Meeting Tifa**

 

The Turks had promised to gather information about Dr. Akron. They had to find a reason to contact the scientist, without raising suspicion. And they would look for Veld’s daughter. Maybe they had luck and Hojo hadn’t his hands on her yet.

They had compromised that they would meet again next weekend. To speak about the information’s, they gathered until then.

After Cloud, Rufus and Zack left the building, they met again with Vincent, who had used his own way outside. It was nearly midnight, but Rufus was sure, Cloud would want to meet Tifa. Her death had hurt his little brother deeply in the other timeline. And that they would go to the slums tomorrow to meet Aerith and probably Reno there was also clear. It was not the way Rufus had imagined his 15th birthday, but he didn’t know anything he would enjoy more.

“It’s okay for you three to walk through the streets late at night?” a concerned look was on Vincent’s face as he asked this. They were minors after all.

The three boys looked at the other man like he had lost his mind. Yes, they were minors. But each one of them carry at least one weapon on his body and they knew how to use them. And nobody would suspect something like this from three teenagers.

“My apology” Vincent had got it too. It was hard for him, to connect these three teenagers with the men they had once been. He hadn’t known Zack. So, the boy was only a boy to him. Rufus looked a little more like the man he would soon be, but there were enough signs of the teenager to forget his mind was more than double as old as his body. And Cloud… when Vincent looked at him he had to suppress the urge to lock him away somewhere safe. He looked so young and fragile. It was hard to imagine that this would soon be the strongest man in Gaia. And that the boy carried the cells of a WEAPON.

“You think she is awake? It’s late” Zack looked a little unsure to Cloud while the four walked through the sleeping streets of Midgar. It would take half an hour till they were in the warehouse district of Sector 4. It was good the headquarter was in the middle of Midgar. Otherwise the walk would be much longer.

“She knew Vincent had left. She will wait till he returns, no matter how long it takes” was Clouds answer with a light smile.

“She will be glad to see you again. And that Aerith remembered her. I think she’s a little bit lonely. Lucretia works the whole day on a cure and myself… well, I’m not a very entertaining person as you know.” Vincent answered. And she had missed Cloud. They had never been romantically involved, but they had lived together for the last twenty years and had raised Marlene and Denzel together.

“She had lived with me Vincent. She’s used to silent company. No company is something she can’t stand”, was Clouds answer.

“And she’s able to entertain herself very well. How long are you in Midgar?” Rufus asked interested.

“Last Month. We had discussed to contact you, but there was always a Turk nearby. And I wasn’t sure about Zack.” Vincent explained. Cloud had always been together with Zack, and Vincent hadn’t known if the boy was back too or not. It had been the same with Aerith. Tifa had really wanted to meet her, but they hadn’t been sure if she would remember. And she was under Turk surveillance. It had been hard enough for Vincent to enter Deepground undetected. It would have been a risk too high.

“I think I have got the order of your returns. Barrett will be next, if I’m right. And shortly after him Cid. They remember in the order they had died. But I’m not sure how long it will be till then.” Cloud said with a deep sigh. It could be weeks, month or even years. But they would remember, and that was more than Cloud had hoped for.

“It sounds logical. Vincent was first, he said half a year. And Zack had remembered four months ago. We will see how long it will take. They will contact you, I’m sure of this.” Rufus answered.

“I hope so. I want to meet Spikey’s other friends properly.” Was Zacks answer to this. He was really curious about them. Cloud had a strange talent that persons close to him become totally loyal to him. The only problem had always been that as a cadet the boy had been too shy and already to hurt from the people in Nibelheim to trust anybody. And Zack was sure that even he hadn’t been really trusted before the events in Niebelheim. Now he wanted to meet the persons that had helped Cloud to get over the loneliness of his childhood and learn to trust again.

“And Aerith friends” was Cloud's response with a light smile. That means; if Zack wanted to continue the relationship with Aerith, he had to get on the good side of Barrett, Cid and Tifa. And in this point, Tifa would be the hardest one.

“Oh, before I forget it; Thanks, Spikey. For showing Aerith the sky. I’ve promised it to her once, but… well, a crazy scientist and an army cross this plan” a thankful smile was on Zacks face. He really wanted to meet Aerith again. And not only her spirit in the Lifestream. He wanted to hold her again.

“It was… not really planed.” And they hadn’t had any other possibility at the moment than leaving Midgar behind. They had just broken into the headquarters of Shinra, rescued two test subjects from Hojo and broke out again. There had been no way how they would have been able to stay in Midgar without getting caught from the Turks.

"Doesn't matter. A lot of things happen on accident. Me meeting her was also one of these things. It's the result, that counts" was Zacks response.

"Don't let Tseng hear any of this. He will have your head. Without a proper plan, nothing good can happen. At least in his opinion" Rufus said to the other boy. He came along quite good with Zack. It was not really a hard task. The other boy had a happy and gentle nature that makes it easy to like him. But, that was also something Rufus had learned, most people didn't know him really at all. The boy had such a shiny and bright nature that most of his so called friends don't even get it, that they didn't know anything about him. At least, nothing that was important.

"One of the reasons why it had been so easy to outsmart him in the other timeline" Cloud grinned lightly.  It had been too easy to work against Tseng because he had been a little too stiff about the plans he had made. There had been additional plans if the original plan fails but if you did something so utterly stupid that nobody would think about it, you could crash his plans easy. And Cloud was good at doing stupid things and make it work in the end.

"I knew. But please don't tell him. It's way too funny to see his face when all his plans were smashed into the ground" now Rufus was grinning. Earns a light chuckle from Cloud and a small laugh from Zack. Vincent only shook his head, a silent and small smile playing around his lips.

 

\- - -

 

Of course, Cloud had been right. Tifa had waited for Vincents return. A tired looking Lucretia at her side. It had only needed a second for Tifa to understand that Vincent was not alone. And whom he had brought with him. Now the two formally last Niebelheimer were in a tight embrace. Happy to see the other again.

"Are they…" Zack whispered to Rufus, who watched the scene with a bright smile. He had missed a lot of things after Geostigma.

"No. They are more like siblings. In the end, Tifa was with Rude." was Rufus answer in a low voice. Rude had had a crush on Tifa long before Meteor. And long before Cloud had appeared in Midgar. He had seen her in the Slums when he had been on duty. Well, Tifa was a beautiful woman.

"Really?" Tifas question and her laugher after a confirming nod from Cloud interrupted the silent conversation. "Well, I hope she stays in Wutai then. At least till she's old enough to handle her Shuriken properly again."

"She's the leader of Wutai at the moment. I don't think she will run away so fast this time. She has a responsibility to her people and you knew how serious the takes something like that." a small smile was on Cloud’s face while he answered her. Seeing it, Tifas smile got a little brighter.

"You're happy" it was a statement.

"I guess." was Clouds reply.

"Good. You deserve it."


	20. 19 - The next morning

19 - The next morning

 

It had been a long night. Zack and Rufus had slept in one of the spare rooms in the warehouse. Tifa and Cloud on the other side had talked till they had fallen asleep. Vincent had put some blankets over them. Nevertheless, the group was now on their way to the slums. The Turks would not be a problem. Enough time had passed that, even if they hadn't been part of the interrogation group, they knew enough to not bother them.

"You know, I'm not sure if I should be happy about that, or not" a deep sigh followed this statement from Tifa. Her eyes wander about the homeless people they passed in the dim morning light. Sadly, after Geostigma, that was something that simply doesn't exist. Reeve had made sure of it. And all had worked together to make Edge to a home where everyone was welcome.

"We'll fix it. It just needs a little more time." was Rufus response.

"You already have plans?" curious Tifa was looking at him.

"A few, but I have to talk with Reeve first. He knew more about this topic than I" was Rufus answer.

It seems that the answer was satisfying enough for the girl. At least at the moment.

"Vincent, how deep had you looked into the current matters?" Cloud asked curious. He was sure, Vincent had gathered some information. More information than he had shared with the Turks. Vincent was just too careful to play all his cards in one move. But he would share with the persons he trusts. And at the moment, with the exception of Zack, he was surrounded with the only people on Gaia he ever had trusted after Shinra had betrayed him.

"As deep as I could without raising suspicion. Something in particular?" He wanted to know, looking only shortly at Zack.

"The situation in Wutai. I knew, that Yuffie had taken care of the war. But the communication ways from Wutai to Midgar are not the best ones. How long ago? And what happened with the troops in Wutai since then? How long till they go home? And is there already a date for the meeting between Lord Godo and President Shinra?" Clouds voice was low. It was early morning in the Slums and even if you didn't see a lot of people, there still could someone looming in the shadows waiting for a good opportunity.

"Ten days. They stayed but the fights had stopped. Most of the normal troops are already on their way back. The troops of the two remaining Generals, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley, should accompany Lord Godo and his man. The date is not fix, but within the next two weeks." Vincent answered as much as he knew.

“A little bit short to make a big event out of it”, Cloud stated. “And I’m a bit surprised that it’s not already on the paper or in the news. The last time, you couldn’t miss it. Now it’s like it hasn’t happened at all.”

“I think, father believed it to be an ambush. Otherwise I had no explanation to let Genesis and Angeal stay in Wutai till the treaty is sealed. He will let the press loose after that too. But I’ve no idea who he will give the honor of victory this time. The war was not only because of the trouble had with Lord Godo in regard of the Reactor. For fact, there had never been a plan for a reactor in Wutai. The landscape spokes against it. It would cost more money to maintain a reactor there than it would be worth it. The sole purpose of this war was to show power and give the masses a face to worship. Sephiroth is out of the picture, he was not in Wutai for the final stage of war. And Genesis and Angeal had been both equal in regard of their success in this war.”, Rufus shared his thoughts on the matter. It was a little alarming.

“From the information I gather, President Shinra had planned to bring Cloud into that picture. But it was over too soon. I think he now want to make the announcement of your return at the same time of the announcement of the end of the war. Wars and tragedies are both good stories for public.”, explained Vincent.

“So, he will try to put me into spotlight and hopes my mere presence will be enough?”, somehow Cloud doubted that.

“No, he will not think it will be enough. But your childhood was not one that somebody would wish to anyone. He will make the people of Niebelheim monsters and you the survivor of this hellhole. I think, the anniversary will be canceled then. And Hojo hadn’t use for the Jenova corpse anymore. At least, not official. I’m pretty sure he hadn’t put the thought of the reunion to rest yet.”, Tifa joined the conversation. She was quite good with politics. Well, her father was a politician at all. In a remote town, but still.

“That’s not…”, began Cloud but was soon interrupted from Tifa. “They hadn’t deserved your concern. It honors you, Cloud, but even I, had often thought, that the adults in Niebelheim go to far with their behavior against you. If I just remember the last harvesting feast I want to beat my father up for it. If someone had dared treat Marlene or Denzel like they had you, I would’ve let him regret the day, he was born.”

“Yeah, but if I remember right, the Shinra company has no problem whipping out every sign of a town on the map if they bothered them”, was Clouds dry response to that. Yes, he was glad to be away from that town, now that he remembered his life there and could it compare to his life with Tifa and the kids in Edge. But that doesn’t mean he wanted the people there to die.

“It would ruin his reputation. He will only shut down the reactor and cancel each trade the company did with the people out there I guess”, Rufus tried to calm his little brother. Sure, he wouldn’t shed a tear if these idiots will be whipped out. The only person he would be sorry for would have been Tifa and she walks only a few steps away from him.

“Fitting if you asked me. They blamed you for everything that went wrong. Now they get a reason to do so”, was all Tifa said. She had been heartbroken when her town went up in flames and had sworn revenge. But that was a lifetime ago. She was older now and being a mother, if only to two children that had nobody else, had switched her view of the persons in Niebelheim. The persons in Niebelheim had had, in her opinion, a great impact in the identity-issues Cloud had had back then. He never had had a chance to find out who he was when he was younger. Was always driven from the wish do be someone else. Someone who deserves to be loved. Who deserves do be part of the life of others. Someone like Zack who had imbodied all of Clouds wishes back then.

“You don’t have to like it. Just accept it. There is nothing you can do without jeopardizing our plans. Father needs to trust you. That’s the most important thing at the moment” concerned Rufus watches his little brother. Sometimes he really was an idealist. He had hoped to make life better for everyone. Rufus was realistic enough to know that that was not possible. That even if they improve things, some losses had to be. It just was the nature of things.

“No matter what flaws they have and what mistakes they’ve make; they deserve to life and deserve to be protected”, Cloud just said. It was his opinion and would always be. For each life he had taken, he had felt remorse. Even for Sephiroth and the Remnants.

“And that’s why you’re so important for Aerith. You two are similar. Perhaps that’s because the two of you are connected with the planet in such a deep way”, Zack smiled at him while throwing one arm around his shoulder.

“Do you mean…she had known?” Cloud was a little overwhelmed by that thought. Had Aerith known some part of him was a WEAPON.

“No. Only that you have a deep connection with the planet and that the planet trusted you to protect her”, answered Zack. “That was the reason she had not feared her death. Because she had known you would protect the planet even if she’s gone.”

“And he hasn’t let me down”, there was a warm smile in these words. Matching the smile, she had on her face. Without noticing it, their feet had brought them in front of the church. In the few first stray of light in the morning Aerith was standing at the front door.


	21. 20 – Knowing the price

20 – Knowing the price

 

"Hey beauty", Zack was the first one that approached her. A soft and warm smile on his face. With a few steps he was standing in front of her. Just looking at her, not daring to touch. It had been over twenty years that he last had the chance to touch her. He had dreamed of holding her in his arms again but now he couldn’t reach out. Fearing that she would disappear if he tried.

"Hello, silly", her smile broadened, and she had, obviously, not as much concerns and just throws her arms around him. A lone tear escaping her eyes while she laid her face against his broad chest. Only a few seconds later, his arms surrounded her and hold her tight.

“Somehow I feel like an intruder”, Tifa whispered while watching the reunion of the two persons that had given everything to stand for their believing and protecting their friends.

“Me too, but did you really want to be scolded from Aerith when she see we’ve left without speaking to her?”, Cloud answered a warm smile on his face. To see the two persons that had helped him more than anyone else that happy was all he had ever wanted.

“Good point”, Tifa smiled to. She was happy for the two. The only downside for her was, that Cloud still was alone. Had been in the other timeline as well. She had tried to matchmake for him. But he had never noticed. Perhaps she had more success with the help of Aerith. The other girl always had had a mysterious connection with Cloud. It had made Tifa jealous sometimes.

“They look good together”, Rufus said a wishful smile on his face. He really missed his wife and he hoped she would give him a chance this time too.

Nobody could say, how much time had passed when Aerith was leaving the warm embrace of Zack and focused her eyes on her friends. Gifting everyone with a warm smile, even Rufus who had been her enemy for all her life.

“I guess, I’m not up do date. Would you all please come in? I don’t like talking in the open”, with these words she turned around and entered the church. She knew that some Turks were watching her. Had always known. That her friends visited her in such a large group told her, that it was okay. But she had been careful all her life in this regard and it was hard to change it.

 

In the safety of her church Aerith had greeted her old friends with a warm smile and hug. In Clouds arms she stayed the longest.

“I’m glad you forgive yourself”, a soft smile was on her lips while she said this.

“Me too”, was Clouds answer. It had taken a long time till he had come to this point. But knowing that nether Aerith nor Zack make him any reproves had been a good start for it.

“Soo, what have I missed in the last, let’s say, two months?”, a bright smile was on her face now while she stepped a little away from Cloud to have a good look at all her visitors.

 

So, they all set together near the flowers in the church to tell Aerith about the resent happenings. And of course, the plans they had made. No one could really say how much time had passed since they start talking, but the sun was nearly on his highest position when the doors of the church opened again. The newcomer was welcomed from two guns and two swords that were pointed at him. The slightly frown on Tifa’s face showed everyone that she was not happy to be protected like this. But well, the three boys where training for a few months now and Vincent… he was never unprepared.

“Geez, if I’ve known you would welcome me that warm I would have brought a sweet little present with me”, there was an impish smile on Renos face while he passed the short distance between them.

“You are just lucky I couldn’t drown you here anymore”, was Clouds dry response while he put his blade away, a small smile on his lips.

“If I only had known you want to play that way…”, there was a purring in Renos voice while he let his eyes roam Clouds form up and down. He had known Cloud from his own cadet days. Back than he hadn’t put much thought to the blond boy that had a bigger mouth than self-confidence. He had to say, he liked the adult version of his friend more.

To Renos surprise, Clouds face heated up. For the first time he really had gotten the implication in his words. Renos smirk widened a little. That was promising.

Zack on the other side watched Reno a little closer while putting his own weapon away. Like the others too. Rufus had a slightly unnerved expression in his eyes, even if there was a tiny smile on his lips.

Tifa’s eyes where more focused at Cloud then on Reno. She hadn’t seen him blush in ages and it was fascinating. The last time she remembered was the slightly blush he had had on the night of his promise, back in Niebelheim. It had been only a shadow in the night but enough to get its meaning.

“You know, if you already were a Turk at the moment, I would have to punish you for that stupid stunt you perform yesterday”, Rufus began to speak. Rescued his little brother from further embarrassment. Cloud was quite good with words. Not as good as with his sword but good enough to give Reno a run for his money. That was something, his little brother had learned after they had discovered they were brothers. If, and that was the point, it doesn’t hint into anything sexual or at least, Cloud does not get it that way. His little brother was, in that department, as naïve and innocent as the twelve-year-old hillbilly he should be at this point in time.

“If I already were Turk I would have given him the key in person”, was Renos reply. Then his face got serious. “Had there been any problems?”

“We had to talk everything trough with the whole Turk department and Sephiroth. And if I say everything, I mean everything”, was Rufus reply.

“Oh...so that’s why there was an explosion on plate”, was Renos answer. They had not heard of anything like this, but if this information comes from Reno it had to be true. Vincent, Rufus and Cloud had suspected something like this would happen.

“What are you talking about?” Obviously, Zack had not.

“They had make sure that no one could betray us”, was Clouds calm answer. His blush had faded away.

“But...only Turks had been there. Well and Sephiroth but he was way too scared about what he could become to betray us”, Zack had focused on Cloud. He was, Tifa and Aerith not included, the only person that doesn’t look at him, like he was nuts.

“Do you really believe that, just being part of the Turks meant loyalty to the Turk department? Yes, Turks are loyal, till the end. When they’ve chosen their way. But at the beginning, they hadn’t found it yet. In front of the cameras yesterday where only Turks. Some loyal to President Shinra. Some loyal to Hojo. Some loyal to other department heads. Even a Turk had his price. I’m pretty sure that not all weak spots had been killed in this explosion. Only the dangerous ones. The other had been silenced and will be removed later”, Cloud explained. He knew, it was a hard concept. Had been for him too. But it was nothing than the truth. Tseng and Veld normally knew where the true loyalties of their inferiors lay. And they would take care of that matter.

“I don’t like that”, Aerith said in a small voice. She knew, Cloud doesn’t like it too. And you could see in Tifa’s and Zacks eyes that they where on the same page.

“It doesn’t matter if we like it or not. If the death of this few persons are necessary to save a few million people than we had to pay this price”, there was bitterness in Clouds voice. It had been a hard lecture to learn. Sadly, Aerith had been the one, that had taught it to him.

“I know. Doesn’t make it easier”, a small smile was on Aerith face while she was getting up. “To come away from this not so nice topic: I have a few presents for you guys. Well, and lady of course.”

“So, there had been more you’ve been packed with than Fenrir?”, a thankful smile was on Clouds lips while he asked. He did not want to argue with Tifa or Zack. And if they talk further about this, it would lead this way.

“You know: I’m glad that monster of a motorcycle had landed INSIDE the church. Otherwise it would be apart right now”, Aerith was laughing. She had tried to move it. Once. She even had asked Reno to move it. He had declined with the words he did not have a death wish. The expression on Clouds face showed her, why Reno had responded like that.

“I have to say: I was surprised when I first saw it. It looks pretty tattered”, Reno was helping changing the topic. Even if he risked his skin with it.

“I know. I haven’t had the time to maintain it properly”, sadness was in his voice while he answered Reno. Fenrir had helped him till the last minute. And gathered a lot of shots and damages meant for both, friend an enemy. He and Rufus had reached the last laboratory on him. The thought that Fenrir would rust in front of his grave had been both; scary and comforting.

“Well you can do it now”, a bright smile was on Aerith face and she clapped with her hands. Like she would prepare herself to help him with it.

“No. It’s too damaged already. Repairing it would cost more time and work than building it new. I need just a few parts of it. My hope is, that all things inside of Fenrir are still there. Where is it?”, of course, it hurts to say that. Fenrir had accompanied him for so long. But it was part of the future they want to change. Perhaps it was a good first step, to change his beloved motorcycle too. And upgrade it a little bit.

“Would you all please accompany me into the next room. I’m pretty sure; I have something for everyone there”, was all Aerith said. Her smile not faltering. She wouldn’t make it harder for Cloud than it obviously already was.

With curious faces, at least for the biggest part of the group, they followed Aerith into the next room. The roof was still intact. That was the first thing Cloud was seeing now. Aerith began talking, like she knew what thoughts where on Clouds mind right now.

“Surprisingly, nether Cloud nor Zack had make a quick visit through the roof in this time. So, it’s still intact. A little rotten maybe, but well, you can’t have it all.”

“Wait a second; they both had been falling through your roof”, now Tifa was even more curious than before.

“Yes. They both had had the same, extraordinary way to introduce themselves to me”, Aerith answered with a broad grin.

“Now I’m jealousy. The only introduction I got from Cloud was a blade crossing with my electric rod. And you told me he had been laying at your feet when first meeting you”, Reno said, the impish smile back on his face. Only seconds later he was lying out cold on the other side of the door they had passed.

“I flew wider”, was all Zack was saying to this while the two girls started giggling.

“I hit you harder”, was Clouds reply. With Reno, he knew how hard he had to punch to knock him out without hurting him further. But Zack had been new land on this regard. And he withstood a lot more than Reno.

“Oh my...”, Tifa’s voice stopped Zacks response. Her eyes had been falling on Fenrir and it really was in a bad state. Full of bullet holes, dents and cuts. Not nearly the beautiful motorcycle Cloud had been so proud of.

Cloud doesn’t response to her. The first times it had been damaged, he had fixed it. But then, saving people was more important than repairing Fenrir. And on some point in time, he had get used to seeing it like that. Even if it never had stopped hurting him.

He just stepped to it and started it with the key, that had started the events that had brought him here today. With a few fast grips the shafts opened. Revealed the parts of First Tsurugi. Another hidden button later, the seat opened. The sight brought a smile on Clouds face.

Curious, Aerith stepped a little closer. Bullet boxes, two pistols and a rainbow of Materia was lying inside the hidden compartment. Together with a few sheets she recognized, on the second look, as old pictures. Her smile faded and was replaced with a frown. This little compartment hold all the possessions Cloud had had left in the previous timeline. And somehow, she suspected, Rufus possessions too.

“What are you looking for?” a questioning expression was on Clouds face. Seeing Aerith without a smile was always worrisome for him.

“The tank”, was all Aerith said, willing a smile back on her face. An amused sigh was her answer.

“And... why exactly is he so calm right now?”, Rufus whispered to Tifa. He knew his brother for quite some time now and he had never been that calm when someone made a joke of Fenrir or his equipment.

“Because she’s Aerith”, was all Tifa was saying a laugh in her voice.

 


	22. Reconnecting

21 - Reconnecting

 

With a soft smile on her face, Tifa was looking at the picture in front of her. Cloud had given it to her. It was one of the few not war-related things, Fenrir’s compartment had hold. A group photo of all of them. Made shortly after the Remnants. It had been the last photo with all of them. Even Vincent was standing there. He had never been able to resist a plea from Marlene.

“Well, at least one person here is not only into weapons”, Aerith smiled a little. Like she had said; Fenrir had not been the only thing, the Goddess had send into the church. There had been some weapons and extra Materia too. Aerith suspected, that Fenrir was only there because it contained Clouds weapons and Materia. The boys where inspecting said weapons. There was one for everyone. Except Barrett. Well, if it goes as planned he would not lose his arm. So, he would not need a gun as a replacement for it.

Cloud had even gotten a second blade. It had been the sword they had collected from Ultimate Weapon back then. Zack had looked at it in awe till Cloud had told him, he could take it. But now the two boys were over another blade. Cloud had tried to figure out, how many pieces of First Tsurugi he could wield when attached at the moment. Not even half of it was the result. It had been a reassuring sight that Zack could not even lift that much.

“I pray, that we will see them again”, Tifa just answered while looking at Marlene and Denzel in the picture. They would never be the family they had been. It would not be necessary. Marlene and Denzel would have their own family. But she hoped they would see them. Denzel should be living in Midgar so there was no real problem. And Marlene, well, Barrett would take care of her.

“How the heck can you drive that thing?!”, Zacks loud voice broke through the air. He had, obviously, tried to move Fenrir. The stubborn motorcycle had shown to be stronger than him.

“Not only drive: He can navigate it with only his legs. At least he could do that”, there was a strange tone in Renos voice. He had been near Zack and Cloud the whole time since waking up again. The three boys came along quite good. Somehow, Rufus had a bad feeling about living with them. Hopefully Tifa would accompany them in their rooms. She was the only one able to calm Cloud. Well, beside of Aerith. But that was a new one for Rufus.

Cloud looked at Reno like he was daft. Not really understanding what the red-head wanted to imply with it. Well, Zack got it and looked at Cloud with big eyes: “Holy shit.”

“What the hell are you talking about”, Cloud did not like this. He doesn’t understand. And he hated not to understand.

“Well, if you ride something, it’s important to have strong muscles in your legs”, Zack begun explaining. For a short second, Rufus was thinking about interrupting him. But the big grin on Reno’s face hold him back. They both deserve whatever would come over them. “You can ride different things, but the stronger your legs are, the more fun you will have. No matter if you’re riding a motorcycle, a Choccobo or a co…” Zack wasn’t able to finish this sentence. The second Cloud, finally, understand what they were talking about, Zack was shut off with a good placed punch. And yes, he was flying further than Reno. Said red-head on the other side displayed a purely innocent look on his face. It wasn’t his fault that Zack interpreted it like that after all.

“You can really be glad to have a restore Materia now”, Tifa said, an amused smile on her lips.

“Oh, we actually have one. Or at least Cloud have it. It had been one of the first things he ordered when he had been coming to Midgar. Naturally grown, of course. And I have to say, it developed really good. The same for the other two Materia Cloud had bought in the Slums”, Rufus answered. It had been something he never really understood. The restore Materia he had. But why his little brother had scheduled the training room just to let loose of an excessive amount of fire and ice spells he did not understand.

“Of course, they are developing well. In a few weeks they will be mastered and then the I will replace the mastered one with the new one”, Cloud answered, a mistrusting look still on Reno.

“But, why? I mean, I’m the last one that doesn’t enjoy a good firework but why start it over again?”, Rufus watched Cloud. Hoping that he finally would get an answer.

“To sold them”, Tifa answered instead of Cloud. “The naturally grown Materia that is sold in Midgar is slightly common. It’s cheap so even the people in the slums can afford it. But a mastered Materia, no matter how common it normally is, is worth a little fortune.”

“And we will need a lot of money to go through with our plans. So better start soon”, Cloud added to her explanation. “I was thinking about selling one of the mastered ‘all’ or ‘element’ supporters I have in stock. But it would be too dangerous. This Materia is to rare to sell it unrecognized.”

“Why did you gather the money that way? We already have more than enough”, Rufus looked a little confused.

“Because no matter how careful you are, they will be able to follow the trace of your money. Because it’s stocked somewhere. But if we gather the money without touching any of the stocks, President Shinra surely knew about, we will be on the safe side.”, Cloud explained a little further. It had been one of the lectures he had gotten from Vincent. Saving money somewhere to do things with it will leave a trace. Generating it only when needed and only as much as needed will make it a lot harder. If you generate it in different ways and different places even more so.

“Don’t argue with him, boss. He has learned from the best”, Reno had a sly grin on his face when saying that. Of course, Cloud was right. But it was one of these things that make the difference between a good Turk and an excellent one. It was nearly sad that the blond boy was not coldblooded enough to be a Turk. It was the only thing that was disqualifying him. But it was unfortunately one of the most important traits.

The look Cloud gave Reno tells him, that the blond boy still doesn’t believe in Renos innocence in the happenings a few seconds ago. It does not bother the red-head, but he would stay quiet for a while. His back and face still hurt like hell.

“Can you explain this too?”, there was a questioning look on Rufus face when he turned to Tifa. Sure, Reno and Cloud had fought in the other timeline too. But not so physical than Cloud acted now. Mostly with words.

“They try to help him feel better”, was Tifa’s explanation, watching Reno and Cloud going through the Materia that was stocked in Fenrir. And over plans to build a new motorcycle. She lowered her voice, so the two boys don’t hear her. “Cloud had always been on the road. Only short amounts of time he had been at home in Edge. First, I had thought, it was because he blame himself for Aerith death. But that was only a little part of it. If he stayed in one place too long, he became restless. I think, he is looking for something. But even he did not know, for what. Zack and Reno had seen it. They try to help him calm down and focus on other things. Or why do you think Zack still provokes him even if they life together.”

“You think it will get better?”, Rufus lowered his voice too. He was sorry for his little brother. And that he himself hadn’t seen it.

“Only if he found whatever he’s searching”, Tifa answered with a deep sigh.

 

They stayed with Aerith till late afternoon. But now, Cloud tried to hurry them home. He had a dinner to prepare after all. And not any dinner, but the birthday dinner for his brother. They only hoped Sephiroth would come after the information he gathered the last night. But Tseng and Rude surely would accompany them. Tseng had gathered a little weakness for Clouds cooking after all. Perhaps because he had learned to properly cook in Wutai and therefore prefer using spices and herbs that grows there.

The dinner would also be a good opportunity to tell Tseng about Fenrir. There was no way they could have taken it with them. Or they could take Clouds Materia and the First Tsurugi parts with them. It would not go unnoticed. So, the Turks would have to find a way bring it to Clouds room in their department. Cloud had, with a heavy heart, only taken one part of First Tsurugi with him. He would use it to train duel bladed fighting.

They had invited Reno and Tifa for the dinner too. And Vincent, but the Turk had declined. He did not want to let Lucretia alone all day and they had invited Tifa not only for dinner, but for staying the night as well. And currently it was safer for Aerith to stay in the slums. The Turks could protect her here, but on plate to many people working for Shinra, official or unofficial, to show her face there.

Cloud only hoped, that Tifa would stay calm when meeting Sephiroth. Of course, they had told the other two, that the General was invited too. And Tifa wanted to meet him. To see herself that he was not the same man that had burned down Niebelheim and summoned Meteor. She believed them, but she wanted to see it herself.

They had talked with Reno in regard of the next applications too. The red-head was smitten by the thought, leaving the streets one year earlier than he had hoped. The program itself would not be a problem. But it would be suspicious if two new extraordinary talents would show up shortly after Zack. But they had time. In the nine month they were back, their plans had progressed further than they had expected. But well, they had gathered help they had not expected. And they could be sure that some things would never happen. The burning of Nibelheim was one of these things. Rufus and Cloud would have an eye on Sephiroth and if he looked like his Degeneration started, they would kill him. Sephiroth himself had asked for it yesterday. So, one mass-destructive point was out of the question. The war in Wutai was over. That leaves two more things to do: Deepground and the Scourge. Not that bad after being here not even a year.


	23. 22 - Birthday dinner

**22 - Birthday dinner**

 

“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea”, Rufus said, looking at the framed pictures that Tifa had placed in the living room. She had taken them with her. It had been only a few. The group picture in the church, a snapshot after a party night at seventh heaven where the Turks had taken part in. A picture with Marlene, Denzel and Cloud together with Fenrir. And two pictures with Barrett and Cid. They had been taken for Marlene back then, that she had something to remember her father, when he was away working. And finally, the one that showed Tifa, Zack and Sephiroth. Shortly before they have climbed Mt. Nibel. Tifa had kept it all the time. After Meteor she had given it to Cloud, so he had at least a picture to remember Zack better. She was not sure, why he hadn’t burned out Sephiroth’s face. But he sure had his reasons for it.

“Nobody comes in here without your consent, right?”, Tifa was looking at him like she already knew the answer. Well there was a security in this building that had nearly throw her and Reno out. At least till they got it that these two slightly shabby looking people where friends of Rufus and Cloud Shinra.

President Shinra had changed Clouds last name half a year ago. It still was hard for Cloud to remember he was a Shinra now. Of course, he had known Rufus was his brother and the old President had been his father. But even with this knowledge he had stayed a Strife till his death in the other timeline. And even if his memories in regard of his mother where not the best one, he would have preferred it had stayed this way. Rufus had just said, they could change it back later if it still bothered him then. It was a reassuring thought.

“True, but what if we forgot to took them away when someone comes to clean here?”, Rufus tried to argue.

“You mean Cloud did not throw a fit when somethings out of place here?”, was Tifa’s dry response. It had been a spleen Cloud had developed. Tifa was not sure if it was because of his days in the army, the captivity or the wish to hold his place tidy while his thoughts and memories had been a total mess. It was not that bad that he started cleaning the second something got dirty. But before he went to bed, he cleaned the whole apartment. At least, that way he had been in the other timeline.

“So, that’s normal for him?”, Zacks voice interrupted them. He was a little curious in this point. Cloud had always been a person, that does not leave a trace behind himself. But the Cloud Zack remembered would have never touched the things of another without his consent. The first days the two had had a lot of arguments because Zack was someone that just leave the things where he dropped them. They had come to an understanding after three weeks. Cloud would stay out of Zacks room and Zack would leave his mess in his room.

“Yes, it is. I’m not sure when it had started. But he was that way when we started to life together after Meteor”, Tifa said. She was not sure if he had had this trait when they were hunting for Sephiroth. But back then they had done everything to not leave traces. The Turks had been after them and it had been better to be careful.

“It’s not that bad. And when I remember right, Sephiroth is the same. Even his desk had always been tidy, no matter how much paperwork he had had”, Zack told them.

“I’m not sure if he will like it, if you tell him that. Sharing traits with Sephiroth always make him feel a little uncomfortable”, Tifa smiled a little uneasy. It does not bother her, but she knew, it would bother Cloud.

“Well, perhaps it makes him feel better if I told him; Tseng is the same”, Reno said. He had just entered the living room. After Cloud had thrown him out of the kitchen.

“I remember that. And Tseng could get really scary when someone made a mess on his desk”, Rufus agreed, a soft smile on his face.

“You remember the secretary of your father that had had a nervous breakdown and tried to jump from the roof? I think, it had been around a year from now”, Zack asked Rufus. The other thought for a short time about it, before he nodded with his head. It had been top news for weeks. But no one had figured out, what had happened with her.

“That day she had made a delivery to Sephiroth. I’m not sure what had happened but when she ran out of his office screaming we had found Sephiroth there, muttering something about coffee strains on his desk while sorting some papers”, it had been the first time, Zack had seen Sephiroth. Angeal had wanted to introduce them that day. After seeing that, Angeal had decide to leave the introduction for another day.

“Cloud had never been that bad”, Tifa laughed. On the contrary. He often had made the mess together with the children, that he had cleaned later. It had always warmed Tifa’s heart seeing Cloud play with Denzel and Marlene.

“True, and he have no problems with leaving a mess somewhere he doesn’t life himself”, Reno agreed, also laughing. He had often helped Cloud repairing Fenrir or other vehicles in Edge. And the garage had always been a total mess.

“Well, keeping your living space clean is not a bad trait if you ask me”, Tifa finally said. She had always been glad, Cloud had helped her in that regard. That way she had been able to concentrate on her bar and the financial aspects of her and Clouds business.

The sound of the doorbell interrupted them. Followed by a curse from the kitchen. Looks like their guests where to early.

“Well Rufus, you should welcome your guests”, Tifa smiled at them before leaving the living room. She would help Cloud a little bit.

 

“Dinner will be ready in about five minutes”, Tifa said while entering the living room again. She had been glad to drag out the moment she had to face Sephiroth. So, she had stayed in the kitchen as long as possible. Thankfully, Cloud had let her. He doesn’t like it when someone interfered when he was cooking.

Tseng, Rufus, Rude and Reno where sitting on the couch, talking. Sephiroth was standing near the windows, together with Zack. And even Tifa could see, that the silver haired man was nervous. About what, she was not sure. But seeing him like that helped her. He seemed more human that way, not like the monster she remembered.

“Hey Tifa, come here. Sephiroth wants to meet you. Even if he would never agree to it loud”, Zack grinned at her.

“Not only Sephiroth”, Reno added a bright grin on his face. Tseng and Rude where also looking in her direction. But Tseng was to controlled to let anything shown on his face and Rude had his sunglasses on. So Tifa was not sure, how true that statement was.

“Yeah, but Tifa knew Tseng and Rude. It’s time for her to meet Sephiroth properly”, Zack stated. If he was only partly as stubborn as Cloud, it would be safer to first go to him. So, the decision was made. And to be honest, she was curious now, that he looked so normal on the first glance.

“Hi. I’m Tifa. Pleased to meet you”, a soft smile was on her lips while she greeted the general.

“Hello. You’re…the woman from the pictures?”, Sephiroth asked. Even more nervous than only a few seconds ago.

“Gew, Seph. You don’t answer a greeting with a question. And if you meet a beautiful girl like Tifa, that’s even a bigger no go”, Zack lightly scolded the older boy with a grin on his face. Then he looked at Tifa. “Sorry, he’s a little unsocial. We’re working on it.”

“He answered. So, he’s not as unsocial as Vincent”, Tifa answered with amusement in her eyes. “And yes, I’m the woman from the pictures. Believe me, when I’m looking in the mirror nowadays I’m not certain myself.”

“I’m sorry”, Sephiroth said. Just ignoring Zack. Since yesterday he had been deep in thoughts. After he had overcome the first shock of all, he had heard. If not for Tseng, he would not have come today.

“What for? You’ve done nothing to be sorry for”, a warm smile was on Tifa’s face now. She had feared the moment they would met. But now, after seeing him, she knew, he was not the same person. And she hoped Aerith would be successful in developing a cure.

There was a strange look in Sephiroth’s eyes while he looked at her. Something between disbelieve and hope. She had seen that look before. On Clouds face. When she had refused to leave him alone the night before they climbed down the northern crate to face Sephiroth.

“Are you guy’s coming or should I eat all alone?”, Cloud asked, standing at the door. He had send Tifa to gather the others while he had set up the table. But neither Tifa nor one of the others had come.

“And missing the feast you’ve made? Totally not”, Zack answered him, a bright grin on his face while crossing the room. He loved Clouds cooking. And it was clear that, for Rufus birthday, he would make something special.

“We should go too. Before Zack gathered all for himself”, Rufus smiled and stood up. It was not a usual birthday. But he enjoyed this one more, than any other he could remember. Even without presents. But well, having all his loved one around him, was present enough. And even if some are still missing, he now knew, they would remember soon.

 

“It’s a shame, the others are not here”, Tifa sighed. The dinner had been pleasant so far. Zack and Reno had become close fast. Tseng and Rude had always been the quiet ones. But normally, Barrett and Cid made up for that. Sephiroth was a little closed up too, but he remembered Tifa of Cloud, in the first group dinners they had had after Meteor. Like he was not sure if he really belonged here. It would get better. They all tried to include him in the conversation and he had calmed down already. And he comes along quite good with Cloud and Zack.

“True. We have to look for a better location for your birthday. And if we are lucky, even Yuffie will be here at that time”, Cloud answered, a small smile on his face.

“When is your birthday, Tifa?”, Zack asked, looking questioning at the girl.

“Three weeks. On May, the 3rd”, Tifa answered. It would be great having them all for her birthday. And Aerith, Vincent and Lucretia too. She would feel a little more like home. In the last years, it had not mattered where she had been. Home was, where her friends had been. Not a place somewhere.

“That’s Genesis birthday, too”, Sephiroth remembered. Not that he had ever been part of it. But Genesis and Angeal would sure have plans. Now that they were not in war anymore.

“If you would prefer celebrating with them it’s okay”, Tifa just smiled at him. She would be happy if he joined them. Not because she already liked him that much, but it was obvious that Zack and Cloud liked the silver haired man a lot. And if Cloud had accepted him after all the difficulties they had had in the other timeline, and even sees him as a friend, the other man could not be that bad.

Sephiroth just stared at her. Not sure if he had understood her right. It nearly sounds like, she would not mind it if he would be there.

“Genesis don’t celebrate. Not in the common meaning of this, at least. The only person that he wanted to be around on that day is Angeal. I have often wondered what’s that special about that day.”, Zack explained to Tifa.

“I thought you was friend with Genesis”, Reno wondered. He had heard a lot about Zack. At least, after Meteor. Mostly from Tseng who had been good friends with the other boy. He had been close to his mentor, Angeal Hewley. Closer than a normal student-mentor relationship should be. And you only get Angeal together with Genesis.

“Yeah. We’ve been so good friends that he had thrown fireballs at me every time he had seen me and Angeal was not around”, was Zacks sarcastic response. Genesis Rhapsodos was totally jealous and possessive when it comes to Angeal. He had tried to talk with Angeal about it a few times. But his mentor had always told him to stop exaggerating.

The sound of something breaking stopped this conversation. Everyone looked to Tseng and Rude where the sound had come from. They both were lying, face down on the table.

“What the…”, Reno began but was interrupted by the sound of chairs. Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth where the first ones that reached the two. Shortly followed from Tifa and Rufus.

“They collapsed. We should bring them somewhere to lay down. Tifa, bring a few wet cloths. Rufus, get some pillows so we can put up their feet. Sephiroth, can you carry one of them by yourself? Zack and I are too short at the moment to do this without hurting them”, the calm voice of Cloud sounded. With a short nod, Tifa and Rufus began to do, what they were asked for. Sephiroth needed a few seconds to wrap his head around this. It was obvious that this little, blond boy was in total control of the situation. Something that normally takes a lot of experience. He had seen the memories. Had talked with them yesterday. But now he begun to understand, what all this really meant. That the little boy in front of him was, for fact, a war-experienced veteran. At least, in his mind. And he could accept being ordered around by someone like that. “Sure. I’ll take Rude, you two could carry Tseng.”

 

“Their vitals are stable. Whatever had happened, they should wake up soon”, Tifa was glad telling them the good news. On times like that she was almost glad, knowing so much about medicines. She had learned it for Cloud. The other had despised hospitals and doctors in general.

“ _It’s my present. And it was time for them, to come back too. Now, only three more are left. And you already had exceeded all expectations I had had in this. But be careful. The professor is plotting something. Take good care of my little one.”_

A relieved sigh escaped Cloud while he listened to Whiskey. The part with Hojo was worrisome. But at least, Tseng and Rude where alright. “They are back.”

“You sure?”, Rufus looked hopeful at him. It would be great to have Tseng back. He liked the one here too, but he had lived through more with the Tseng from his timeline. Sometimes he had catch himself referring to something from the other timeline to this Tseng and only got a blank face as an answer.

“Yeah. It’s her birthday present for you”, Cloud smiled at him. They would talk about the other part of the message later. A few hours more would not make such an impact. Veld was watching Hojo too close at the moment that he would got away with anything.

“Perhaps she’s not that awful”, Rufus snorted, a happy look in his eyes. This birthday had just become a lot better now.

“Did that mean…Barrett and Cid are back too?”, Tifa looked at Cloud a little uncertain. They had talked about this with Aerith. And if Clouds suggestion had been right, they should remember already.

“Yes. Whiskey said, only three were left. Red, Elena and Reeve are still missing”, Cloud answered.

“We should talk to Cissnei. She will be helpful with Elena”, Reno looked at Rufus who just nod his head.

“You mean, Elena is really THAT Elena!”, Zack looked at the two with big eyes.

“What are you talking about? Do you know Elena?”, now Tifa was curious. She knew the other girl quite well. But Yuffie had gotten closer to the blond Turk. Well, they were only two years apart.

“She’s Cissnei’s little sister”, Rufus confirmed Zacks suggestion and answered Tifa’s question.

“You’re kidding”, Cloud wanted to know. He had not known that. And he had to say, the two sisters where that different, that he would never had thought about a relation. Not only in their character but also in their looks.

“Bleach Cissnei’s hair and you will see it. They look more alike than you thought. Only that Cissnei had curls and Elena not”, Rufus told his little brother with a warm smile.

“Sure. But if Tseng founds out, I blame you”, Clouds responded.

“You know, Cissnei can handle her Shuriken as good as Yuffie could. She can take care of that for herself”, Tseng’s voice sounds from the couch. Shortly after that he opened his eyes. Only seconds later, Rude woke up too.


	24. A meeting in the night

**23 - A meeting in the night**

 

A warm smile was on Clouds face, while he enjoyed being surrounded by his friends. It remembered him of the time, when they all had met. After Deepground and before the Scourge broke out. He sat a little on the sideline. Just enjoying the feeling of coming home. Tifa had cuddled herself at Rude who also had a small smile on his face. The age gap between the two was more noticeable now, but the two of them would work it out. If Rude had one thing, it was patience. Even if Tifa lacked it sometimes. Rufus and Tseng where talking with each other. There had been times, when Cloud was not sure what their relationship really was. It looked deeper than friends. It had him took over a year to understand, that like Tifa and himself, they were family. Normally, Reno would be sitting beside him right now. But the other was with Zack at the moment. The two of them come along quite good. And the few glances they throw at his direction made it clear, that they where talking about him. He would have to be careful around them.

It was obvious that Sephiroth felt a little lost in the moment. He was standing at the sideline too. Not sure what to think about the whole ordeal. Cloud could understand him. If it hadn’t been for Tifa or Reno he would have felt lost too at a get together like this one.

That was one of the reasons he was sitting here. Of course, he could have accompanied any of the others and no one would have had anything against it. Well, except Tifa and Rude. But he wanted to present himself as available to Sephiroth as possible. To encourage the other man to come to him.

And his plan seemed to work. Slowly, Sephiroth approached him. Tried to make it as quietly as possible. And Cloud was sure, he prepared himself internal for a rejection. As hard as it had been at the beginning to understand this, Sephiroth and himself where a lot alike. Grown up almost alone. Not seen as a child by the adults around them. Only seeing others that found friendship and a save haven in the arms of others.

Cloud had found it, in AVALANCHE. Sephiroth had never found anything like that. If not for Tifa and her deep wish to stay close to him, Cloud would had simply snapped one day too. Just like Sephiroth had back then in Nibelheim. Of course, Sephiroth had had Angeal and Genesis. But if he trusted Zack in his observation, and he had no reason not to, then Genesis had only acted as a friend in front of Sephiroth. To avoid him and Angeal being alone. And in the end, Angeal had chosen Genesis.

Cloud was not sure if Genesis already suffered of Degeneration. But if that was the case, he would already had physically displaying signs. So, he had concluded, that it was just a character trait of the other. He would have to investigate this further when he met Genesis in real. Not only hearing stories about him.

“You know, the floor doesn’t bite”, an encouraging smile was on Clouds face while he looked up. Sephiroth was standing beside him. Not knowing how to start a conversation. So, Cloud had started it.

“I’ve seen your sword in the pictures. Doesn’t look like something for dual wielding”, Sephiroth began talking while sitting down. Earning a light chuckle from the blond boy. Of course, he started a discussion about weapons.

“It could be separated. I’ll show you when the Turks had gathered my things. Whiskey had sent back a few…helpful items too. We just couldn’t bring them here without getting suspicious”, Cloud answered in a calm tone.

“Hm”, was all the answer he got. For a few minutes they just sat like that. Cloud waiting for Sephiroth to say something. When it was obvious to the blond boy that the other one doesn’t, he started himself.

“You ever ride a motorcycle?”, the surprised look in the green eyes of the other one told him already the answer.

“No. It was not necessary to do so”, he said nevertheless.

“Perhaps not necessary, but it’s fun. Feeling the wind in the hair and on your face. It’s like, leaving all your problems behind you. There’s only you, the machine underneath you and the road. I’ve never experienced more freedom in my life. Not even when flying on Cid’s airship. But don’t tell him that. He’s getting a little grumpy if you don’t appreciate his baby”, Cloud tell him. Not able to withhold the wistfulness in his voice. He missed riding a motorcycle. And just like that, he stood up. Looking down at Sephiroth with a smile. “Come, I’ll show you.”

 

It had been easy sneaking into the garages and taking one of the motorcycles there. Of course, Cloud would have preferred driving Fenrir. But currently, his baby was to heavy for him. And Sephiroth would not be helpful, even if Cloud was sure, he had the strength to tame Fenrir. But letting Fenrir loose on a newbie in driving was a bad idea. But well, there was always a next time.

They had agreed that Cloud would sit in front and Sephiroth behind. Even if only because Sephiroth really had no clue how to drive motorcycle and this way, Cloud would do it. The blond boy was pretty sure that, if someone caught them, they would be in big trouble.

But shortly after they left the garage and he was able going full speed, Cloud forgot everything about this. It was not Fenrir. Not nearly as fast as his baby. But it was freedom nevertheless. And the soft gasp that escaping Sephiroth’s mouth showed him, that he was not the only one feeling it.

 

Cloud was not sure how long they had been on the road. The only thing he knew, was his destination. At the moment, it was easy to travel between plate and slums. The security had been enhanced after AVALANCHE have started acting. But if you know the right persons you could switch between plate and slums pretty fast. And if your last name was Shinra, it was free too. Half an hour after they had left the garage Cloud had sent a mental request to Whiskey. It was the first time he tried this, so he could only hope she really had heard him. In the last weeks she had become quieter. If Cloud was honest with himself, he was glad she talked to him today. He had started to question her mere existence already. And if Whiskey was not real, he could not be in the past. All of this would be only in his head.

In the dim light, that was normal in the slums, they approached the Church. For a short moment Cloud had thought about going to her house. He remembered the fiend problem the slums have pretty well. But then he had remembered, that Aerith had taken some materias with her. And Cloud know nobody else who could cause as much destruction as Aerith with a simple fire spell. He had heard tales about Genesis Rhapsodos. But before he believes it, the other man would have to prove it.

„Where are we?“, Sephiroth whispered in a low voice, his eyes focused on the church that was lightened by an unknown source.

„You remember I've told you about the Cetra? That your mother had hoped to give birth to the first Cetra since nearly 2000 years?“, Cloud answered in the same low voice.

„Yes, I do. But what have this to do with the place we are now?“, was Sephiroth's reply. Looks like Tseng had still kept Aerith as secret as possible.

„You remember Professor Gast, right? He had, at least by name, leaded the experiments in Nibelheim. From what I know, you have been around three or four years when he left the company for a search in the Northern Area. There he found the last living Cetra. Her name was Ifalna. She was living at Icycle Inn, a little town near the crate where Jenova had been found. To Professor Gasts pleasure, she agreed in talking to him, about the secrets and the history of the Cetra. Hearing the voices of the planet had helped her a lot to know all about the past, even if she was the last one. Professor Gast listened to her. Day in, day out. And then, the two fell in love and got a child together. They named her Aerith. When this little girl was a few months old, Infantryman stormed their house. Hojo had convinced the President, that he would be able to get more useful information if he could take the matter in hand. And President Shinra wanted the promised land that is a part of the old legends about the Cetra. Professor Gast was killed that day and Ifalna and Aerith had been captured. It was at the beginning of the war in Wutai that Ifalna found a way to break out, together with her daughter. Deadly wounded she made it to the train station in the slums where a gentle and lonely woman found her and promised her on her death bed to take care of Aerith. Since then, Tseng had protected her. Letting her escape each time someone tried to capture her again. Here in this church, Zack and myself had met her. On different points in time. She was the one, you have killed in the previous timeline. And she had been the one that, even in death, had protected the world against the meteor you summoned. And I think, it's time for you, to meet her“, a small smile was on Clouds lips while his eyes where still focused on the church.

„Are...you sure about this? I mean...“, there was a tenseness in his voice. Of course, he feared meeting her. But Cloud knew how good Aerith was at healing wounded souls. With only being near them.

„I'm sure about this. Aerith is, most probably, the first one to find a cure. It would only be a matter of time and now is better than later, when we're surrounded by the others.“, Cloud answered while taking his eyes from the church. Gifting the man that was still sitting on the motorcycle with a encouraging smile.

Thanks to the enhanced eyesight Cloud possesses he could see, that Sephiroth doesn't believe him. But the other man never run from a fight. So, he would stay here, waiting for whatever would come. „So...she lived in a church?“

„I'm not living there, silly. But it's the quietest and safest place here. And I can hear the planet more clearly when in the church.“, Aerith voice sounded a few steps away, a small smile on her lips while approaching the two of them.

She greeted Cloud with a warm embrace, before looking at Sephiroth again. „Hi, I'm Aerith.“

Sephiroth just stared at her. Engrossed by the warm and welcoming smile that was lying on her lips even if it was deep in the night and Cloud had woken her up for this meeting. And even knowing that, without the interference of Cloud and Rufus, he would have killed her in a few years.

„You know, he looked at me, like you did the first time we meet. Like I'm a ghost or something like that.“, Aerith began to speak again after a short and silent few minutes have passed.

„This effect will vanish soon. And he is, a little, lost of words sometimes. Should we get in? It's a little chilly out there.“, Cloud answered with an concerned look at Aerith. It would not be a problem for him. Cold weather was something, he was used too. And Sephiroth's body was already to modified to really realize how cold it really was out here.

„That would be great. But I have to be back before dawn. Otherwise mother will get a fit. But I think she was the reason you called me here to the church?“, a questioning look was on Aerith face while Cloud and she waited for Sephiroth attending them on the short way to the church. After a questioning look at Cloud, the older boy followed them.

„Well, I didn't want to know what she would do when two boys on a motorcycle where standing in front of your house in the middle of the night, asking for meeting you“, was Clouds answer while leading the way.

„She would have been shocked. More so when seeing General Sephiroth was one of the boys. But I think the moment she would get it, that you are a Shinra would be the moment she would totally snap.“, was Aerith answer, a light giggle in her voice.

„Don't remember me. I'm so glad when I can change my name back. Every time someone calling me Shinra I'm looking over my shoulder for Rufus“, was Clouds reply.

„How was your name before you came here?“, Sephiroth wanted to know. A curious look on his face. Looks like he wanted to ask this for a while now but never found the right moment.

„Strife. And I had grown up in Nibelheim. The same place, you have been born. The older people in town often gossip about the time, when Shinra scientist had made their creepy experiments in the old Shinra Villa. Since then it had the image of a ghost house. The people believe that the hunted souls of the poor beings that had been used in these experiments are still hunting the house. Waiting that someone from Shinra came back there to take revenge.“, Cloud told the other man. In the last weeks he had learned how curious Sephiroth was. He would never ask for more details on his own, but he would find a way to satisfy his curiosity. That's why Cloud explained everything as detailed as possible. And sometimes he hinted some more information in hope the other man would start asking questions. On some days, it works. On other days he just earned a thoughtful look on the face of the other one.

„Well, it was not that far fetched. I mean, Vincent was sleeping there for twenty years or something like that when we woke him“, Aerith said. „And I'm pretty sure if we hadn't been on our way to fight Shinra he would not have accompanied us.“

„He asked if we would meet Hojo on our way. So, I think, he was only out for his blood. Not the whole lot of Shinra. But well, I can understand him in that point. And I'm proud of Zack because he did only growl when seeing Hojo somewhere in the hallways and not lash out for his head.“, Cloud told her, a sad smile on his face.

„We should make a club. Together with Red XIII.“, Aerith suggested while passing the door into the church.

„And what name do you want to give us? 'Survivors of the inhuman experiments of Hojo'? Or simply 'We hate Hojo'? Would be shorter if you want to make buttons or cards.“, Cloud was answering her half joking. Earned a bright smile from the girl.

„Zack had been in Hojo's captivity too? And who is Red XIII?“, Sephiroth wanted to know while following them inside the church.

„Yes, for five years Hojo had held Zack and me in his laboratory. After Nibelheim had been burned down. We broke out of it and traveled through the planet. But Zack wanted to come back to Midgar. For a long time, I didn't understand why. We just escaped Shinras captivity and he wanted to go to the city that is in total control of them. Now I knew, he wanted to come back to Aerith. In the end, this decision had cost him his life.“, Cloud explained. He was not sure how clear or complete the images had been that the others had seen. But he would explain every question Sephiroth has as good as possible. The other one deserved to know it. „And Red XIII is the name Hojo gave him. He is, like Aerith, one of the last of his kind. Normally he lives in Cosmo Canyon. His real name is Nanaki, but he couldn't care less how we call him. You remember the red-orange cat-like creature in the pictures Tifa has placed in the living room?“

„The one next to the wutaines girl?“, Sephiroth asked. Trying to remember the persons on the picture as good as possible.

„Yeah. That was Red XIII. And the wutaines girl is Yuffie. Daughter of Lord Godo and therefore future empress of Wutai. She is responsible for the end of the war.“, Cloud explained further. „If you want, I can give you the names and a little background information of anyone on the photos. I knew you will gather this information but what's a better source then someone who had fought side by side with them?“

„And from whom did he get the background information’s of you? I mean, on this topic, you're a little biased.“, Aerith grinned.

„Oh, I'm pretty sure that Reno will provide him with everything he wanted to know. No matter how embarrassing it is for me or how fast he had to run when I found out.“, Cloud answered a laugh in his voice.

„Reno did not know everything about you. I'm pretty sure the 'Don Corneo incident' is still a top secret affair between you, Tifa and myself.“, Aerith answered an amused smile on her lips.

„Well, for whom it was more embarrassing?“, Cloud wanted to know, also smiling. This little episode had been a secret between the three of them only because of one reason: It had been a huge blow to the ego of Aerith and Tifa that Cloud had been picked over them. Otherwise the two girls would have told the tale already.

„Oh, be quite or I tell Zack about it. And he will tell Reno about it and you will never life it down if that happens.“, Aerith responded a smile on her face.

„Sure, but I'll tell Tifa you have told Zack. Would be fun to see what happens.“, Cloud smiled back. Zack would not now what would hit him and Reno, well, he was smart enough to not pissing off Tifa.

„Bringing in Tifa is not fair“, Aerith answered a small frown on her face. She loved the new Cloud. He was more fun than the one she had met. She knew, a lot of this changes had happened after Deepground. Before the Scourge broke out. Sometimes she had asked herself what would have happened, if she had met this Cloud before Zack. It was no hard task to fall in love with him. And now, back in the past, there was another change in him. He was more open, even carefree sometimes. And a lot happier, than Aerith had ever seen him. „I'll stopping talking to you now for at least an hour. As punishment for this unfair behavior. Sephiroth, come over here and sit down next to me. He can entertain himself.“

A small chuckle escapes Cloud by this word and he gave Sephiroth an encouraging nod who looked at them both like they were crazy. Well, in some department, they were. But on a harmless level. He would train a little bit with the parts of First Tsurugi that was still in the church. The Turks would collect all the things here in the next few days. Until then, he would have an excuse coming here as often as possible. With this thought and a smile on his face Cloud made his way to Fenrir. Aerith would take care of Sephiroth. That was clear for him.


End file.
